Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Extend Copyright Protection Via Trademark Law The Washington Post has this report about the Supreme Court's recent decision in Dastar Corp. v. 20th Century Fox Film Corp.. At issue in the case was whether or not Dastar committed "reverse passing off" by modifying footage from a 20th Century Fox World War II documentary, which was then sold under a new title and with new production credits, with no attribution to the makers of the original series. Interpreting the meaning of "origin" in the Lanham Act's prohibition on false designation of origin, the Supreme Court in an 8-0 decision authored by Justice Scalia determined that "origin" does not refer to the source of the ideas or communications embodied in the work, but instead refers to the source of the physical product (in this case, the videotape). The Court held that a contrary interpretation would result in an irreconcilable conflict between the trademark and copyright laws. A copy of the opinion can be found here.