Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Intellectual Property Law Blogs -> Threat Level

Intellectual Property Law

: Threat Level

Court: Inmate Cannot Sue U.S. for Copyright Infringement

By Ryan Singel, Kevin Poulsen, Sarah Lai Stirland, Kim Zetter, and David Kravets

A federal inmate who copyrighted a calendar he produced while performing graphic-art labor as part of his 17-year-bank robbery sentence cannot collect the $500,000 he says his product is worth, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The courts routinely dismiss copyright infringement cases against the United States brought by federal employees who developed products as part of their employment. Wednesday's decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit marked the first time an appellate court was faced with deciding whether the government misappropriated a work copyrighted by a federal prison inmate.

The case concerns Arizona bank robber James Walton, who while being housed in a federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, was assigned to produce a "substantial number" of calendars as part of his labor assignment.

He earned up to $1.15 per hour as part of his employment with the government's Federal Prison Industries Inc., which distributed the calendars via the government's General Services Agency. The GSA then sold an undisclosed number to federal agencies.

Walton copyrighted the 2001 edition and sued. The lower courts dismissed the case, saying the federal government cannot be sued for copyright infringement. The court of appeals agreed.

Usually, copyright law prohibits lawsuits against the United States if the copyrighted work was prepared in the "employment or service" of the United States.

Wednesday's rulingwas the first time the word "service" was used to define imprisonment.

Walton claimed prisoners are not employees of the United States and that "service" also meant employee as well. The appeals court disagreed.

"We conclude that Congress intended the two terms to have different, although related, meanings," the court ruled. "One may have a 'service' relationship with the federal government that does not constitute an 'employment' relationship. Without attempting to define the precise limits of 'service,' we conclude it covered Walton's relationship with the Federal Prison Industries Inc. while working for it on the federal calendar as a federal prisoner."

Photo: the_kid_cl's photostream/Flickr

See Also:

• Online Video-Sharing Sites Score Copyright Victory
• Bush Signs Law Creating Copyright Czar
• No ISP Filtering Under New RIAA Copyright Strategy
• Judge: Copyright Owners Must Consider 'Fair Use' Before Sending ...
• RIAA Qualifies Statement on No New Copyright Lawsuits
• Stifled by Copyright, McCain Asks YouTube to Consider Fair Use ...
• Guns N' Roses Uploader Guilty of Copyright Infringement
• 'Orphan Works' Copyright Law Dies Quiet Death
• MPAA Says No Proof Needed in P2P Copyright Infringement Lawsuits ...
• Vote: Who Should Be the First U.S. Copyright Czar?
• Universities Baffled by Massive Surge in RIAA Copyright Notices ...

Full post as published by Threat Level on January 08, 2009 (boomark / email).