''Greenberg v. National Geographic'' was a

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...

regarding image use and republication rights of

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, ...

to their magazine in electronic form.

Details

After the National Geographic released a digital archive containing every monthly issue of ''National Geographic magazine'' in 1997, photographer Jerry Greenberg took the Society to court over the reproduction of photographs that National Geographic had licensed from him.

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

withdrew this archive from the market in 2004 until after litigation was finished. The archive, called "The Complete ''National Geographic'' on

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both com ...

and DVD", contained image duplicates of the print magazines. The plaintiffs argued that the archive was a "revision", and thus National Geographic did not hold the license to republish. National Geographic argued that the archive, which included an introductory sequence set to music and a search feature, was a new work.

Rulings

Two federal appellate courts ruled in the various cases. One case in the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...

ruled against National Geographic in 2001 (''Greenberg v. National Geographic''), prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in a similar case later that same year involving the same statute of the U.S. Copyright law (''

New York Times Co. v. Tasini ''New York Times Co. v. Tasini'', 533 U.S. 483 (2001), is a leading decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of copyright in the contents of a newspaper database. It held that '' The New York Times'', in licensing back issues o ...

''). On March 4, 2005, the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate ju ...

said that ''Greenberg'' was inconsistent with the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruling in ''Tasini'', and ruled in favor of

in a case involving the same ''Complete National Geographic'' product (''Faulkner v. National Geographic Enterprises''). On June 13, 2007, the

Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...

reversed its prior decision in ''Greenberg I'' and remanded the case back to the U.S. district court, agreeing with the

Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate jur ...

ruling in ''Faulkner'' that ''Greenberg I'' was inconsistent with the later ''Tasini'' decision (''Greenberg II''). On August 30, 2007, the Eleventh Circuit issued an order vacating the panel decision in ''Greenberg II'' and said the Court would hear the appeal

en banc In law, an en banc session (; French for "in bench"; also known as ''in banc'', ''in banco'' or ''in bank'') is a session in which a case is heard before all the judges of a court (before the entire bench) rather than by one judge or a smaller p ...

, or by all the judges on the Court, which was heard February 26, 2008. On June 30, 2008, the Eleventh Circuit held (''Greenberg III'') that National Geographic's reproduction of its magazine electronically was privileged under the federal copyright statute.

Results

Since National Geographic's victory in the Second Circuit, several publications (including ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

'', ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''

Mad Magazine Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several ...

'', and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'') have either produced or announced plans to produce complete reproductions of their prior paper

magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...

on DVD or a restricted website for subscribers. As a result of this ruling National Geographic announced it is releasing the full 120-year version of its magazine at the end of October 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenberg V. National Geographic United States copyright case law National Geographic Society United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit cases 2004 in United States case law United States Court of Appeals case articles without infoboxes United States lawsuits