In Manatt Appellate Senior Counsel Michael Berger’s latest column for Daily Journal, he discussed a recent case involving the federal government’s attempt at the physical taking of copyrighted works.
In the article, he explained how a small publisher successfully sued the federal government after it demanded the publisher provide physical copies of its books to the Library of Congress, citing section 407 of the Copyright Act. He noted, however, that the government’s claim was not valid, since the publisher would not have been compensated for the deposited books, either financially or via the privilege of copyright protection. Berger concluded, “In today's world, the demand by government for such a deposit is governed by the more common sense reality of takings law: If the government takes private property for its own use, it must pay.”
Daily Journal subscribers can read the full article here.