RSS
Can You Copyright Blank Forms Used To File Papers With The SEC... And Then Block Selling The Filled Out Forms?
from the seems-like-a-stretch dept
Eric Goldman points us to the news of a lawsuit concerning the International Swaps and Derivatives Association Inc (ISDA), an industry trade group focused on the financial derivatives market. ISDA supposedly created a set of forms that can be used by parties in a derivatives transaction -- which it then registered a copyright on. Some companies used those forms as part of their filings with the SEC in EDGAR, which is all publicly available information. Another company, Socratek LLC, collected various EDGAR documents, and sold access to them, and since some of that included filled out versions of these forms, ISDA is claiming copyright infringement. The court recently turned down both a request from ISDA for an injunction stopping Socratek as well as a dismissal request from Socratek, so the case will move on.
It's difficult to see how the copyright claim makes sense. First of all, it's a form. While perhaps you can claim creative new works in a form, it seems likely that most forms would not, actually, be covered by copyright. Goldman noted:
I'm skeptical of any copyrights in "order forms." I'm doubly skeptical when the completed form was filed as a public record with the government. I'm triply skeptical given the marginal revenue streams that the plaintiff was seeing anyway.On top of that, even if these documents are actually covered by copyright (which, again, seems like a stretch), you'd have to think that fair use would cover Socratek's actions. It seems particularly ridiculous to claim that a filled out government filed form is somehow covered by copyright.
I have a business...
Why 50,000 Monthly Active Users Weren't Enough To Stop This Company From Pivoting, With Spun Co-Founder Scott Lindenbaum
The Talent Wars: Today's Toughest Startup Challenge
I have an app...
How My First Game Made $28,623
Marketing And Monetization Strategies For Free Apps
I’m looking for policy...
Policy Resources: Data Privacy & Security
Policy Resources: Software Patents
Reader Comments (rss)
(Flattened / Threaded)
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
That makes no sense. They're not selling the *forms*. They're taking the filled out content of the forms filed with the SEC and selling that as a bundle. That information is public, by law. But this lawsuit suggests the form maker can somehow block that.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
ill doodle a
then they can keep it
haha
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
I can only wonder if either set of counsel are versed in copyright law. The absence of Baker v. Selden gives me pause for concern. It is as basic to copyright law as V=IR is to electronics.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
let em copyright it all
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
The solution: layers
You'd then either need a tool to later merge the data with an "officially provided" form, or print empty forms and data on the same paper.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Question about copyrighting tax forms.
1) Are the US Tax Forms and Tax Tables are copy righted materials?
2) Can I display portion of tax tables on my website as an image?
I would appreciate any feedback and any references
Thank You
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Add Your Comment