Schnell v. Chris-Craft Industries, Inc.

Schnell v. Chris-Craft Industries, Inc.
the Delaware Supreme Court
Syllabus
781142Schnell v. Chris-Craft Industries, Inc. — Syllabusthe Delaware Supreme Court

Court Documents
Opinion of the Court
Dissenting Opinion
Wolcott

Supreme Court of Delaware

285 A.2d 437

Andrew H. SCHNELL, Jr. and Jack Safer, Plaintiffs Below, Appellants,  v.  CHRIS-CRAFT INDUSTRIES, INC., a Delaware corporation, Defendant Below, Appellee

H. Albert Young and Edward B. Maxwell, 2nd, of Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor, Wilmington, and Carl F. Goodman, New York, New York, and Jay L. Westbrook, of Surrey, Karasik & Greene, Washington, District of Columbia, for plaintiffs below, appellants.

David F. Anderson and Charles S. Crompton, Jr., of Potter, Anderson & Corroon, Wilmington, and Arthur L. Liman and Daniel P. Levitt, of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, New York, New York, and Washington, District of Columbia, for defendant below, appellee.

Wolcott, Chief Justice, and Carey and Herrmann, Associate Justices. Wolcott, Chief Justice (dissenting).

This work is in the public domain in the U.S. because it is an edict of a government, local or foreign. See § 313.6(C)(2) of the Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices. Such documents include "legislative enactments, judicial decisions, administrative rulings, public ordinances, or similar types of official legal materials" as well as "any translation prepared by a government employee acting within the course of his or her official duties."

These do not include works of the Organization of American States, United Nations, or any of the UN specialized agencies. See Compendium III § 313.6(C)(2) and 17 U.S.C. 104(b)(5).

A non-American governmental edict may still be copyrighted outside the U.S. Similar to {{PD-in-USGov}}, the above U.S. Copyright Office Practice does not prevent U.S. states or localities from holding copyright abroad, depending on foreign copyright laws and regulations.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse