The ALI Copyright Restatement Project: A Horse of a Different Color?

Abstract

In announcing the Copyright Restatement project in 2015, the American Law Institute set its sights for the first time on restating a complex federal statutory regime as opposed to predominantly common law fields. While critical aspects of U.S. copyright law have a common law character — such as limiting doctrines, infringement standards, and the fair use doctrine — much of the regime is set forth in the U.S. Code. This panel discusses the first two years of the ALI Copyright Restatement Project and concerns that have been raised about fitting a comprehensive federal statutory regime into a template developed for restating judge-made state common law subjects.