Copyrighting the Book of Numbers - Protecting the Compiler: West Publishing Co. v. Mead Data Central, Inc.
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Authors
Gerritzen, Theresa M.
Issue Date
1987
Volume
20
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
INTRODUCTION|Copyright has been called "a crucial right for writers, not only for financial reasons but for purposes of artistic control as well." This protection ensures that authors can safeguard their ideas, but a clash can occur if those ideas come from information that is considered part of the public domain. This clash became a focal point in the case of West Publishing Co. v. Mead Data Central, Inc., which centered on the right of an author versus the public's need for the dissemination of judicial decisions.|West Publishing Co. ("West") compiles and arranges judicial decisions in a volume series known as the "National Reporter System." Mead Data Central, Inc. ("MDC") incorporates state and federal judicial decisions into a computer legal research tool called LEXIS. In 1985, MDC announced that it planned to introduce star pagination, using West's page numbers from its copyrighted volumes, into the LEXIS data base. In response, West asked a federal district court to issue a preliminary injunction against MDC for copyright infringement. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the lower court's grant of the injunction, stating that MDC's planned use of the page numbers would infringe upon West's copyrighted arrangement...
Description
Citation
20 Creighton L. Rev. 1133 (1986-1987)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law