De Wolf worked for the Copyright Office on and off for the next several decades until being appointed acting Register of Copyrights on January 1, 1945, to replace Clement Lincoln Bouvé. He served in that capacity until February 1, 1945, when Sam Bass Warner was appointed the fourth Register of Copyrights. De Wolf died on March 8, 1947, and is buried in St. Augustine, Florida.
Richard Crosby De Wolf is noted for being one of the earliest teachers of copyright law as a separate subject in the United States.[1]
De Wolf is also noted as one of the earliest scholars to suggest a completely disjunctive reading of the Copyright Clause.[1] The Clause, which gives Congress the power to grant both copyrights and patents, states
The Congress shall have Power ... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.
De Wolf wrote in his book "An Outline of Copyright Law" that one could resolve this statement disjunctively, illustrating the separate grants of authority for copyrights and patents, so that it states "(1) The progress of science is to be promoted by securing to authors the right to their writings; and (2) the progress of useful arts is to be promoted by securing to inventors the right to their discoveries." The Supreme Court endorsed this view in 1966 in Graham v. John Deere Co., citing "An Outline of Copyright Law."
Referencesedit
^ ab(PDF). United States Copyright Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-01-06.
External linksedit
An Outline of Copyright Law by Richard Crosby De Wolf at Google Books.
richard, crosby, wolf, 1875, 1947, acting, register, copyrights, from, 1944, 1945, first, united, states, copyright, scholars, suggest, completely, disjunctive, reading, copyright, clause, acting, register, copyrightsin, office, january, 1944, february, 1945pr. Richard Crosby De Wolf 1875 1947 was acting Register of Copyrights from 1944 to 1945 and one of the first United States copyright law scholars to suggest a completely disjunctive reading of the Copyright Clause Richard Crosby De WolfActing Register of CopyrightsIn office January 1 1944 February 1 1945Preceded byClement Lincoln BouveSucceeded bySam Bass WarnerPersonal detailsBorn1875Des Moines IowaDiedMarch 8 1947St Augustine FloridaEducationGeorge Washington University Law School LLB Military serviceBranch serviceUnited States Marines De Wolf was born in Des Moines Iowa in 1875 He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology for two years before joining the U S Marines in 1899 and fighting in the Spanish American War He first started working for the United States Copyright Office in 1907 In 1913 he received his L L B from George Washington University Law School eventually leaving the Copyright Office in 1918 to practice law privately De Wolf worked for the Copyright Office on and off for the next several decades until being appointed acting Register of Copyrights on January 1 1945 to replace Clement Lincoln Bouve He served in that capacity until February 1 1945 when Sam Bass Warner was appointed the fourth Register of Copyrights De Wolf died on March 8 1947 and is buried in St Augustine Florida Richard Crosby De Wolf is noted for being one of the earliest teachers of copyright law as a separate subject in the United States 1 De Wolf is also noted as one of the earliest scholars to suggest a completely disjunctive reading of the Copyright Clause 1 The Clause which gives Congress the power to grant both copyrights and patents states The Congress shall have Power To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries De Wolf wrote in his book An Outline of Copyright Law that one could resolve this statement disjunctively illustrating the separate grants of authority for copyrights and patents so that it states 1 The progress of science is to be promoted by securing to authors the right to their writings and 2 the progress of useful arts is to be promoted by securing to inventors the right to their discoveries The Supreme Court endorsed this view in 1966 in Graham v John Deere Co citing An Outline of Copyright Law References edit a b Biography of Richard Crosby De Wolf Acting Register 1944 1945 PDF United States Copyright Office Archived from the original PDF on 2010 01 06 External links editAn Outline of Copyright Law by Richard Crosby De Wolf at Google Books Government offices Preceded byClement Lincoln Bouve Acting Register of Copyrights1944 1945 Succeeded bySam Bass Warner Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Richard Crosby De Wolf amp oldid 1178882830, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
