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The laws protecting copyright are made by Congress in the first place, that's where they come from. Of course Congress has the power to take away copyright too,
by jrochkind1 6y ago
The laws protecting copyright are made by Congress in the first place, that's where they come from. Of course Congress has the power to take away copyright too, so there's nothing odd about the fact that an act of Congress (the same entity that created the right) can void a copyright.
(OK, ok, some of copyright law, at least originally, is common law, but Congress always has the power to override that too).
- gowld 6y agoThat's not quite true. Copyright is in the Constitution, controlled by the States.
- jrochkind1 6y agoCopyright law is definitely definitely federal. There are no state-by-state differences to copyright in the USA, it is exclusively federal. You are right the constitution gives the federal government (not the states) the authority to create it. Article 1 Section 8: "The Congress shall have Power… To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;"