Précis
In this case which addressed the unauthorized use of an image of the Korean War Veterans Memorial on a U.S. postage stamp, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the government infringed the
copyright
A property right in an original work of authorship (including literary, musical, dramatic, choreographic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, and architectural works; motion pictures and other audiovisual works; and sound recordings) fixed in any tangible medium of expression, giving the holder the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, distribute, perform, and display the work (Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004)).
copyright of the sculptor who created the memorial. The government’s
infringement
In the law of patents (protected inventions) and copyrights (protected writings or graphics), the improper use of a patent, writing, graphic or trademark without permission, without notice, and especially without contracting for payment of a royalty. Even though the infringement may be accidental, the party infringing is responsible to pay the original patent or copyright owner substantial damages, which can be the normal royalty or as much as the infringer’s accumulated gross profits (http://dictionary.law.com).
infringement was not excused under the
fair use
A reasonable and limited use of a copyrighted work without the author's permission, such as quoting from a book in a book review or using parts of it in a parody. Fair use is a defense to an infringement claim, depending on the following statutory factors: (a) the purpose and character of the use, (b) the nature of the copyrighted work, (c) the amount of the work used, and (d) the economic impact of the use (Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004)).
fair use doctrine because . . . .
