Circuits Finally Agree on Scanned Pages of National Geographic CD-ROM

The Eleventh Circuit has reversed its earlier ruling in Greenberg v National Geographic Society, resolving a two-year long split with the Second Circuit regarding the rights of authors who contribute to collective works.

In dispute was a CD-ROM reproduction of all the issues of National Geographic Magazine. Individual contributors to National Geographic alleged that the CD-ROM infringed on their copyrights. The Eleventh Circuit sided with the contributors; in a later suit over the same issue, the Second Circuit sided with National Geographic. The Supreme Court denied certiorari to both cases, leaving the law divided.