Could Michelle Obama Sue Melania Trump Over Plagiarized Speech?

Honestly? Maybe.

While I can’t imagine Mrs. O would ever actually pursue such a claim, lets explore how she could if she were so inclined.

Artists, authors, speakers, and songwriters always own an automaticcopyright in the works they create. They can then choose to register that copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office; while doing so makes enforcing that copyright easier for the artist, registration isn’t strictly necessary. When someone copies all or some of a copyrighted work without permission, that person may have “infringed” on the original artist’s copyright.

Copyrights don’t last forever, though. Under current law, a person making a speech today would own the copyright for his or her lifetime, plus another 70 years. After that, the text of the speech becomes part of the public domain, and anyone can copy it without legal consequences. When it comes to speeches written or given by employees of the federal government, things are different; under federal law, those speeches are part of the public domain, right from the start. The same goes for any government-produced materials that appear on the White House webpage, on which the text of many speeches is often posted.



http://lawnewz.com/politics/does-mi...egal-claim-against-melania-trump-over-speech/