Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Arizona

Copyright vs. Fair Use

It'd be a stretch. (Believe it or not.) Now keep in mindthat Copyright law especially is not black and white andalso that you could very likely find an attorney who would take such a case and present at least a half-credit nuisance suit to the attorney, but I think you're barking up the wrongtree.

More specific comments explain my conclusion:1) There is a "fair use" doctrine which often allows for academic and other purposes a small numberof copies of copyrighted material to be reproduced -- I'd have to review the list of such uses to see where this one fits exactly,if it does, but the normal measure of damages is either a RELATIVELYsmall statutory amount or else the damage you suffered by having fewer people buy the publication, which is likely quite small.How much revenue do you think you'll lose? Moreover, will people be reading the public-domain court records as a means of getting a free copy of your article? I imagine not. It's an interestingconcept, that copyrighted material introduced into a trial mightlose it's copyright status because the trial itself is "in the publicdomain" but I don't think that's really a problem.

2) By taking the stand as an expert witness, you probably lose the right to prevent an opposing lawyer from copying your article just for the purposes of use in the trial. Moreover, I wonder if your wishto enforce your copyrights is really just a means to prevent him fromgiving you a hard time on the stand. A judge or jury might wonder aboutthat, too. With a broad brush, I'd say that copyright protection granted by courts (enforced) is limited to the purposes of having such protection, to promote the Arts and Sciences.

3) If you're thinking of trying to enforce your copyrights now to preventa thorough cross-examination, I think the chances of your winning are very, very low. (You'd need an injunction, probably, and wouldn't get it.) Butyou can try!

Good luck with your testimoney -- woops, testimony! -- at trial. (I'm just teasing.I use experts, too.) Suggest this to the lawyer who's calling you to thestand if you want him to use it as a tactic or even if you are genuinely concerned about losing any rights you have in your article. Or hire your own lawyer if youremain concerned -- since that lawyer has another agenda in mind now anyway.

By the way, pray tell, what are you expert in and what does the old article say that you are most sensitive about? Reply directly to me if you like.