ABSTRACT
The 1976 Act was the product of extensive negotiations among representatives of copyright insiders. That process predictably disadvantaged parties that were not at the bargaining table. But what about the folks who were represented in the negotiations and involved in crafting the statute’s language? The bargains they made didn’t always work out for them. Sometimes those bargains were predicated on assumptions that turned out to be wrong. Sometimes they were overturned by court rulings misconstruing the language the parties thought they had agreed on. Sometimes they incorporated implicit promises that, down the line, industry actors failed to live up to. Authors and creators ended up with less than they thought they had bargained for. The resulting statute works much less well than its supporters hoped. This account highlights an unavoidable weakness in making copyright legislation the product of negotiation.
Litman, Jessica, Done Deals (October 4, 2026).
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