Paul Heald -- one of the best minds working in the copyright field today -- long ago mapped out a series of claims (or counter-claims) that could be brought against spurious assertions of copyright: Paul Heald, Payment Demands for Spurious Copyrights: Four Causes of Action, 1 J. Intell. Prop. L. 259 (1994). http://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1341&context=f... Unfortunately, asserting such claims is expensive and unpleasant, but the law is there for anyone with the intestinal fortitude to use it. DLB
I have already told Brian that I think academia needs to literally tactically sue publishers like the AP and force the AP and organizations like AP to sign agreements when needing academic IP, interviews and more. Academia needs its own pit-bull group to go after these ravenous publishers. Is it any wonder that print is mortally wounded in too many places?
Good luck!
-- Dan L. Burk Chancellor's Professor of Law University of California, Irvine 4500 Berkeley Place Irvine, CA 92697-8000 Voice: (949) 824-9325 Fax: (949)824-7336