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Now that's an expensive postage stamp!

Now that's an expensive postage stamp! In 2003, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 37-cent first class stamp commemorating the end of the Korean War. The stamp depicted the image of soldier sculptures located at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.

Thereafter, the sculptor of those soldiers brought suit against the USPS, asserting that he owned the copyright in the sculptures and that the postage stamp did not constitute a "fair use" of his sculptures. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims rejected the copyright infringement claim in a ruling from December 2008 that you can access here. The trial court ruled that the sculptor owned the copyright but that the postage stamp's use of the images constituted fair use.

Today, however, the majority on a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has reversed that ruling, holding that the postage stamp's use of those images did not constitute fair use. You can access today's ruling at this link. As a result, the Federal Circuit's decision holds that the USPS is liable to the sculptor and remands the case back to the trial court so that damages may be determined.

Earlier coverage of the case can be accessed here, here, and here.

Full post as published by How Appealing on February 25, 2010 (boomark / email).