123 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
123 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
Copyright 1991 by S. Kitterman Jr. and the Las Vegas PC Users Group,
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316 Bridger Avenue, Suite 240; Las Vegas, NV 89101. All rights reserved.
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This file was originally printed in the October 1991 issue of The Bytes
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of Las Vegas, a publication of the Las Vegas PC Users Group, and may be
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reprinted only by nonprofit organizations.
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Please give proper credit to the author and The Bytes of Las Vegas.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Copyrights and Computer Software - An Introduction
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by Sam Kitterman, Jr., LVPCUG
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[The purpose of these articles is to give general
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information regarding copyrights and how they pertain to protection
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of software. It is not intended to constitute legal advice nor
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should it be relied upon to address a particular situation since
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the tone of the article itself is general in nature. This part is an
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overview of Copyright Law.]
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Much has been said about copyrights and whether such can
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or can not protect something one has created, whether that
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something, better known as the "work" in the parlance of copyright
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law, is a book, a movie, or software.
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Yet, what is a copyright? Is it more than the þ? What
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does it protect? What doesn't it protect? How does one obtain a
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copyright? Although multiple books have been written and can be
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written on the subject, here's a glimpse into the World of
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Copyrights.
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Copyrights are a creation of Federal Law. Found in 17
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U.S.C. 101, et seq., the Copyright Act may protect a "work" if the
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"work" meets the following criteria:
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(1) It is an expression (the "work") of an idea
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where the expression is original; and,
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(2) the expression is in a tangible form.
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For example, if you had an idea for a story and wrote that story,
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the manuscript would be the "work". If your story was "original",
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then the manuscript would be protectable under copyright.
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However, those criteria are subject to certain
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exceptions. First, certain materials are not copyrightable, to-
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wit: works created by the United States Government, official
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documents, or works that are "functional" in nature.
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More importantly, it must be understood that the
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copyright only protects the expression of the idea, not the idea
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itself. For example, an individual copyrights their recipe for a
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peanut butter pie. The copyright only protects the written recipe
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(the "expression"), not the actual making of the pie itself.
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Consequently, although one could not make a copy of the recipe,
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they could take that recipe and make as many pies as they want for
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whatever purpose, including selling them commercially.
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What does a Copyright protect? Simply put, a valid
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copyright grants the owner thereof the following rights:
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(1) the exclusive right to reproduce the Work;
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(2) the exclusive right to distribute the Work;
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(3) the exclusive right to perform the Work;
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(4) the exclusive right to prepare derivative
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works based upon the "Work".
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Again, there are certain exceptions to these rights which will be
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discussed in a later article.
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What do these rights mean? An example of these rights is
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as follows: if you have "authored" a movie which is subject to a
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valid copyright, then you have the sole right to make copies of
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that movie, to take those copies and distribute them, to show the
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movie, and to take clips from that movie and use those clips as you
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see fit.
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How long is a copyright good for? For works for which a
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copyright registration has been obtained since 1978, the
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registration is valid for the life of the author plus fifty years
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from the time of creation of the Work. For example, if I create a
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piece of music on January 1, 1992 and register that music with the
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Copyright Office, then my copyright is valid until my death, say
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2030 plus fifty years, or in other words, 2080 is when that
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copyright will expire.
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What does it take to obtain a copyright?
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First, once you have authored the Work, or some
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substantial form of it, make sure that you have placed the
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Copyright Notice on those materials in a location reasonably
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visible to the public. The Copyright Notice consists of the
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following elements: the symbol þ or the word copyright, the year
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you authored the Work, and your name or the name of the owner of
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the copyright. For example, if you were president of a corporation
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and your employee created a software package for the corporation,
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then the copyright notice would read as follows:
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(c) 1992 - John Doe Corporation.
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Although the law no longer requires use of the copyright
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notice, you lose certain rights if you fail to use the notice. So
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the advice is: use it!
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Second, you should register the Work with the Copyright
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Office. This requires you to obtain the appropriate form for the
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Work, i.e., if it is textual in nature, you use the TX form, if it
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is a sound recording, you use the SR, etc. You then fill out the
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form, send the form with twenty dollars and a copy of the Work,
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what is otherwise called the "Deposit". If you've done everything
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right, then you should receive your copyright registration anywhere
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from four to six months thereafter.
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Although this may appear easy (and most of the time it
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may be), certain rules and practices must be followed depending
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upon the nature of the Work you are seeking to register.
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Why register? If you fail to register the copyright for
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your Work, you can not sue someone for infringement of your Work.
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Simple as that.
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In next month's issue I'll discuss details as to who is
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considered the author of a Work, the requirement of originality for
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a Work, and the types of works for which one can seek copyright
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protection.
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----------------------------------
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Copyright 1991--S. Kitterman Jr.
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[Sam Kitterman, a member of the Las Vegas PC Users Group is an attorney
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with the firm of Quirk, Tratos & Rothel; he specializes in issues
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related to computer software. This is the first of a series
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of articles Sam is writing for The Bytes of Las Vegas.
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It was originally published in the October 1991 issue of The Bytes of Las
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Vegas, the official newsletter of the Las Vegas PC Users Group.]
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