The daughter of Eric Knight, author of Lassie Come Home, prevailed over Classic Media in a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling handed down on Friday that reversed a 2006 District Court decision and affirms Winifred Knight Mewborn’s 1996 letter terminating Classic Media’s rights. Variety says “the court’s opinion addressed a complicated issue of copyright law involving whether the law’s termination of transfer right is eradicated by a post-1978 assignment of the rights. In a victory for authors and their heirs, the court held that their rights are not terminated.”Click here for the PDF of the court’s rulingVariety article
Copyright
Australian Import/Copyright Fight: Sounds Like a Losing Battle
In Australia, booksellers and a government commission are seeking to remove the country’s restrictions that give Australian publishers 30 days after the release of book elsewhere in the world to issue an Australian edition (which protects territorial rights and blocks the importing of editions from other countries). The industry response, as the Australian puts it: “The Australian Publishers Association and the Australian Society of Authors are organising a grassroots campaign to educate the public that cheap books will come at a cost to the local industry.”Australian