President Ford Ascends Copyright Mount Rushmore

On past Presidents' Days, we have discussed the critical roles in the development of U.S. copyright law played by Abraham Lincoln (who extended copyright protection to photographs) and George Washington (whose correspondence was at the center of the dispute that gave rise to the fair use doctrine). This year, it's Gerald Ford's turn to ascend to our Mount Rushmore of Copyright. Not an obvious choice? Maybe, but we are putting him up there for two reasons. First, Ford signed into law the Copyright Act of 1976, the foundation for modern copyright law and the economic engine for big chunks of the entertainment industry.

Second, Ford's memoirs, just like George Washington's correspondence, played an important part in the development of the fair use doctrine. The case was Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises, decided by the Supreme Court in 1985.