981 lines
46 KiB
Plaintext
981 lines
46 KiB
Plaintext
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Part 1: What Copyright Is
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-------------------------
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On January 1, 1978, the Copyright Act of 1976 (title 17 of the
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United States Code) came into effect. This general revision of the
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copyright law of the United States, the first such revision since
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1909, made important changes in our copyright system and
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superseded the previous federal copyright statute.
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Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the
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United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of "original works
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of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and
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certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both
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published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the Copyright Act
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generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and
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to authorize others to do the following:
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- To reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
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- To prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;
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- To distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work
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to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or
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by rental, lease, or lending;
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- To perform the copyrighted work publically, in the case of
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literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works,
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pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audivisual
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works, and
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- To display the copyrighted work publically, in the case of
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literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works,
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pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works,
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including the individual images of a motion picture or
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other audiovisual work.
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It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the
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Act to the owner of copyright. These rights, however, are not
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unlimited in scope. Sections 107 through 118 of the Copyright Act
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establish limitations on these rights. In some cases, these
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limitations are specified exemptions from copyright liability. One
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major limitation is the doctrine of "fair use," which is given a
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statutory basis by Section 107 of the Act. In other instances, the
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limitation takes the form of a "compulsory license" under which
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certain limited uses of copyrighted works are permitted upon payment
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of specified royalties and compliance with statutory conditions.
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Part 2: Who Can Claim Copyright
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-------------------------------
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Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created
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in fixed form: that is, it is incident of the process of authorship. The
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copyright in the work of authorship IMMEDIATELY becomes the property of
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the author who created it. Only the author or those deriving their
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rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.
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In the case of works made for hire, the employer and not the
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employee is presumptively considered the author. Section 101 of the
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Copyright Act defines a "work made for hire" as:
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(1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope
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of his or her employment; or
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(2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use
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as a contribution to a collective work, as part
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of a motion picture or other audiovisual work,
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as a translation, as a supplementary work, as a
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compilation, as an instructional text, as a test,
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as answer material for a test, or as an atlas,
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if the parties expressly agree in a written
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instrument signed by them that the work will be
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considered a work made for hire....
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The authors of a joint work are co-owners of the copyright in
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the work, unless there is an agreement to the contrary.
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Copyright in each separate contribution to a periodical or other
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collective work is distinct from copyright in the collective work as a
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whole and vests initially with the author of the contribution.
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Two General Principles
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----------------------
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- Mere ownership of a book, manuscript, painting, or any other
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copy or phonorecord does not give the possessor the copyright. The
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law provides that transfer of ownership of any material object that
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embodies a protected work does not of itself convey any rights in the
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copyright.
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- Minors may claim copyright, but state laws may regulate the
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business dealings involving copyrights owned by minors. For information
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on relevant state laws, consult an attorney in your state.
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AUTHOR'S ADDENDUM
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The determination of what constitutes a "work for hire" under the
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Copyright Act is based upon common law agency principles, and not upon
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who has the right to control the product or has actual control of the
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product, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 5 (COMMUNITY FOR
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CREATIVE NON-VIOLENCE v. REID).
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The court, in an opinion by Justice Marshall, ruled that a
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statue, dramatizing the plight of the homeless, which was commissioned
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by the Community for Creative Non-Violence, a non-profit group whose
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mission is to eradicate homelessness, is not a work for hire, although
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the court noted that CCNV could still be found to be a joint author.
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Section 101 of the Copuright Act, 17 USC 101, provides that a
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work is "for hire" under two possible circumstances: first, a work can
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be "prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment,"
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17 USE 101(1), or, as specified in 17 USC 101(2), a work can be
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specially ordered or commissioned as part of a collective work, a movie
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or other audiovisual work, a translation, a supplementary work, a
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compilation, an isstructional text, a test, or an atlas. The parties
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agreed that the statue did not satisfy the requirements of 17 USE
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101(2), so the only issue was whether it could be considered a "work
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prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment."
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CCNV, supported by amicus briefs filed by publishers, asserted
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that a work created by an independent contractor can be a work for hire
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under 17 USC 101(1) if the employer retains the right to control the
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product, or if the employer has actually wielded control with respect to
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the creation of a particular work. In a joint brief, the Magazine
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Publishers of America Inc., the Hearst Corp., The New York Times Co.,
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Playboy Enterprises, and Time Inc. said that magazine and newspaper
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publishers "shape and direct" the creative process, and that they must
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be able to rely upon work for hire relationships with contributors they
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supervise and direct.
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Neither of the "control" tests "is consistent with the text of
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the act," the court said. "Section 101 clearly delineates between works
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prepared by an employee and commissioned works. Sound though other
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distinctions might be as a matter of copyright policy, there is no
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statutory support for an additional dichotomy between commissioned works
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that are actually controlled and supervised by the hiring party and
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those that are not." The hiring party's right to control the product
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"simply is not determinative," the court said.
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The term "employee" as used in 17 USC 101(1) "should be
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understood in light of the general common law of agency," the court
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said. Using that criterion, the court found that the sculptor, James
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Earl Reid, was not a CCNV employee, noting that Reid supplied his own
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tools, worked in his own studio, was retained by CCNV for only two
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months, and was paid a specific sum contingent upon completion of the
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specific job. CCNV paid no payroll or social security taxes for Reid,
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provided no employee benefits, and did not contribute to any
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unemployment insurance or workers' compensation funds, the court said.
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Part 3: Copyright and National Origin of the Work
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-------------------------------------------------
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Copyright protection is available for all unpublished works,
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regardless of the nationality or domicile of the author.
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Published works are eligible for copyright protection in the
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United States if either of the following conditions are met:
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- On the date of first publication, one or more of the authors is
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a national or domiciliary of the United States or is a national or
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domiciliary, or soverign authority of a foreign nation that is a party
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to a copyright treaty to which the U.S. is also a party, or is a
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stateless person wherever that person may be domiciled; or
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- The work is first published in the United States or in a
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foreign nation that, on the date of the first publication, is a party to
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the Universal Copyright Convention; or the work comes within the scope
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of a Presidential proclamation.
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The Manufacturing Clause
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------------------------
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The manufacturing clause in the copyright law, section 601 of the
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1976 Copyright Act (title 17, U.S. Code), expired July 1, 1986.
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What Works Are Protected
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------------------------
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Copyright protects "original works of authorship" that are fixed
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in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly
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perceptible, so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine
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or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories:
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(1) literary works;
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(2) musical works, including any accompanying words;
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(3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
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(4) pantomimes and choreographic works;
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(5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;
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(6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works; and
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(7) sound recordings.
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These categories should be viewed quite broadly: for example,
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computer programs and most "compilations" are registrable as "literary
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works"; maps and architectural blueprints are registerable as
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"pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works."
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Part 4: What Is Not Protected By Copyright
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------------------------------------------
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Several categories of material are generally not eligible for
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statutory copyright protection. These include among others:
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- Works that have NOT been fixed in a tangible form of
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expression. For example, choreographic works that have not been notated
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or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not
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been written or recorded.
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- Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or
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designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or
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coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents.
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- Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts,
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principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a
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description, explanation, or illustration.
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- Works consisting ENTIRELY of information that is common
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property and containing no original authorship. For example: standard
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calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists
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or tables taken from public documents or other common sources.
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How To Secure A Copyright
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-------------------------
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The way in which copyright protection is secured under the
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present law is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration
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or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright.
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There are, however, certain definite advantages to registration. (See
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NOTE below.)
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Copyright is secured AUTOMATICALLY when the work is created, and
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a work is "created" when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the
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first time. In general, "copies" are material objects from which a work
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can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a
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machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film,
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videotape, or microfilm. "Phonorecords" are material objects embodying
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faxations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture
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soundtracks), such as audio tapes and phonograph disks. Thus, for
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example, a song (the "work") can be fixed in sheet music ("copies") or
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in phonograph disks ("phonorecords"), or both.
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If a work is prepared over a period, the part of the work that is
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fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.
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NOTE: Before 1978, statutory copyright was generally secured by the act
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of publication with notice of copyright, assuming compliance with all
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other relevant statutory conditions. Works in the public domain on
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January 1, 1978 (for example, works published without satisfying all
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conditions for securing statutory copyright under the Copyright Act of
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1909) remain in the public domain under the current Act.
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Statutory copyright could also be secured before 1978 by the act
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of registration in the case of certain unpublished works and works
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eligible for ad interim copyright. The current Act automatically extends
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to full term (section 304 sets the term) copyright for all works in
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which ad interim copyright was subsisting or was capable of being
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secured on December 31, 1977.
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AUTHOR'S ADDENDUM
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Anyone wishing to obtain a copyright should write to the Copyright
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Office (address below) and request the appropriate forms. Write to:
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Copyright Office
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LM 455
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Library of Congress
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Washington, D.C. 20559
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NOTE: The Copyright Office itself is not permitted to give legal advice.
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If you need information or guidance on matters such as disputes over the
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ownership of a copyright, suits against possible infringers, the
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procedure for getting a work published, or the method of obtaining
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royalty payments, it may be necessary to consult with an attorney.
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Part 5: Publication
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-------------------
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Publication is no longer the key to obtaining statutory copyright
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as it was under the Copyright Act of 1909. However, publication remains
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important to copyright owners.
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The Copyright Act defines publication as follows:
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"Publication" is the distribution of copies or phonorecords
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of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of owner-
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ship, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering to
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distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for
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purposes of further distribution, public performance, or
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public display, constitutes publication. A public perform-
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ance or display of a work does not of itself constitute
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publication.
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A further discussion of the definition of "publication" can be
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found in the legislative history of the Act. The legislative reports
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define "to the public" as distribution to persons under no explicit or
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implicit restrictions with respect to disclosure of the contents. The
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reports state that the definition makes it clear that the sale of
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phonorecords constitutes publication of the underlying work, for
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example, the musical, dramatic, or literary work embodied in a
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phonorecord. The reports also state that it is clear that any form of
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dissemination in which the material object does not change hands, for
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example, performances or displays on television, is NOT a publication no
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matter how many people are exposed to the work. However, when copies of
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phonorecords are offered for sale or lease to a group of wholesalers,
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broadcasters, or motion picture theaters, publication does takes place
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if the purpose is further distribution, public performance, or public
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display.
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Publication is an important concept in the copyright law for
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several reasons:
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- When a work is published, all published copies should bear
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a notice of copyright. (See Part 6 at a later date)
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- Works that are published with notice of copyright in the
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United States are subject to mandatory deposit with the
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Library of Congress.
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- Publication of a work can affect the limitations on the
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exclusive rights of the copyright owner that are set
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forth in sections 107 through 118 of the law.
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- The year of publication may determine the duration of
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copyright protection for anonymous and pseudonymous
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works (when the author's identity is not revealed in
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the records of the Copyright Office) and for works
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made for hire.
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- Deposit requirements for registration of published works
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differ from those for registration of unpublished works.
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Part 6: Notice of Copyright
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---------------------------
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When a work is published under the authority of the copyright
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owner, a notice of copyright should be placed on all publicly
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distributed copies and on all publicly distributed phonorecords of sound
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recordings. This notice is required even on works published outside of
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the United States. Failure to comply with the notice requirement can
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result in the loss of certain additional rights otherwise available to
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the copyright owner.
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The use of the copyright notice is the responsibility of the
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copyright owner and does not require advance permission from, or
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registration with, the Copyright Office. As mentioned earlier, use of
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the notice makes the published works subject to mandatory deposit
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requirements.
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Form of Notice for Visually Perceptible Copies
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The notice for visually perceptible copies should contain all of
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the following three elements:
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(1) The SYMBOL (c) -- the letter C in a circle -- or the
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word "Copyright," of the abbreviation "Copr."; and
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(2) THE YEAR OF FIRST PUBLICATION of the work. In the case of
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compilations or derivative works incorporating previously
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published material, the year date of first publication of
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the compilation or derivative work is sufficient. The
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year date may be omitted where a pictorial, graphic, or
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sculptural work, with accompanying textual matter, if any,
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is reproduced in or on greeting cards, postcards,
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stationery, jewelry, dolls, toys, or any useful article;
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and
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(3) THE NAME OF THE OWNER OF COPYRIGHT in the work, or an
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abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a
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generally known alternative designation of the owner.
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Examples: (c) 1989 VITRON Management Consulting, Inc.
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Copyright 1989 James J. Spinelli
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(c) Copyright 1989 RelayNet
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The "(c)" notice is required only on "visually perceptible copies."
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Certain kinds of works -- for example, musical, dramatic, and literary
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works -- may be fixed not in "copies" but by means of sound in an audi
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recording. Since audio recordings such as audio tapes and phonograph
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disks are "phonorecords" and not "copies," there is no requirement that
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the phonorecord bear a "(c)" notice to protect the underlying musical,
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dramatic, or literary work that is recorded.
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Form of Notice for Phonorecords of Sound Recordings
|
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The copyright notice for phonorecords of sound recordings has
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somewhat different requirements. (Sound recordings are defined as "works
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that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other
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sounds, but not including the sounds accompanying a motion picture or
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other audiovisual work, regardless of the nature of the material
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objects, such as disks, tapes, or other phonorecords, in which they are
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embodied.") The notice appearing on phonorecords should contain the
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following three elements:
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1. The SYMBOL (p) -- the letter P in a circle; and
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2. The YEAR OF FIRST PUBLICATION of the sound recording; and
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3. THE NAME OF THE OWNER OF COPYRIGHT in the sound recording,
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or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized,
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or a generally known alternative designation of the owner.
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If the producer of the sound recording is named on the
|
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phonorecord labels or containers, and if no other name
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appears in conjunction with the notice, the producer's
|
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name shall be considered a part of the notice.
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Example: (p) 1989 A.B.C., Inc.
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NOTE: Because of problems that might result in some cases from the use
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of variant forms of the notice, any form of the notice other than those
|
||
given above should not be used without first seeking legal advice.
|
||
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Position of Notice
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------------------
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The notice should be affixed to copies or phonorecords of the
|
||
work in such a manner and location as to "give reasonable notice of the
|
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claim of copyright." The norice on phonorecords may appear on the
|
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surface of the phonorecord or on the phonorecord label or container,
|
||
provided the manner of placement and location give reasonable notice of
|
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the claim. The three elements of the notice should ordinarily appear
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together on the copies or phonorecords.
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Publications Incorporating United States Government Works
|
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---------------------------------------------------------
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Works by the U.S. Government are not subject to copyright
|
||
protection. Whenever a work is published in copies or phonorecords
|
||
consisting preponderantly of one or more works of the U.S. Government,
|
||
the notice of copyright shall also include a statement that identifies
|
||
one of the following: those portions protected by the copyright law OR
|
||
those portions that constitute U.S. Government material.
|
||
|
||
Unpublished Works
|
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-----------------
|
||
The copyright notice is not required on unpublished works. (See
|
||
earlier post that defines the concept of "publishing.") To avoid an
|
||
inadvertent publication without notice, however, it may be advisable for
|
||
the author or other owner of the copyright to affix notices, or a
|
||
statement such as UNPUBLISHED WORK (c) Copyright 1989, John Smith, to
|
||
any copies or phonorecords which leave his or her control.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Effect of Omission of the Notice or of Error in the Name or Date
|
||
----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
Unlike the law in effect before 1978, the new Copyright Act, in
|
||
sections 405 and 406, provides procedures for correcting errors and
|
||
omissions of the copyright notice on works published on or after January
|
||
1, 1978.
|
||
In general, the omission or error does not automatically
|
||
invalidate the copyright in a work if registration for the work has been
|
||
made before or is made within 5 years after the publication without
|
||
notice, and a reasonable effort is made to add the notice to all copies
|
||
or phonorecords that are distributed to the public in the U.S. after the
|
||
omission or error has been discovered.
|
||
|
||
Here's a post that, by necessity, I need to provide to you. As you
|
||
will note, it is pertinent to the discussions pertaining to
|
||
copyrights.
|
||
As you may recall, several users have begun a brief discussion
|
||
regarding whether or not government agencies and government entities
|
||
may disregard the "unauthorized" duplication of copyrighted material.
|
||
Well, the following may indicate that such a policy may be near its
|
||
end.
|
||
|
||
From: Rachel Parker, as appeared in the current issue of INFOWORLD --
|
||
|
||
Software lobbying groups are celebrating a new Supreme Court
|
||
ruling that they believe lends support to their efforts to close a
|
||
loophole in the Copyright Act.
|
||
In PENNSYLVANIA vs. UNION GAS CO., the state of Pennsylvania
|
||
argued that it could not be required to pay monetary damages for
|
||
violating an environmental law because states are immune from such
|
||
federal interference under the 11th AAmendment. In a closely
|
||
divided ruling, the Court held that while the state was protected
|
||
by the 11th Amendment, the state agency could be held liable for
|
||
monetary damages if Congress had specifically named such
|
||
organizations in laws.
|
||
This issue is a familiar one to the PC software industry. In
|
||
1988, the University of California at Los Angeles defended
|
||
itself in a computer software copyright action, saying that as a
|
||
state agency it was immune from paying monetary damages. The court
|
||
in that case, called BV ENGINEERING vs. U.C.L.A., said that while
|
||
the school had illegally copied the software, BV Engineering could
|
||
not collect any monetary damages from the school.
|
||
Since that case was decided, the Software Publishers
|
||
Association and Adapso have been working with legislators to amend
|
||
the Copyright Act, making states and their agencies specifically
|
||
liable for monetary damages in copyright infringement cases.
|
||
"I suspect that now that UNION GAS has come downm we will get
|
||
our law," said Mary Jane Saunders, general counsel for SPA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
A proposed law has been drafted, and the two trade groups have
|
||
been sponsoring testimony before Congress supporting the proposal.
|
||
|
||
Part 7 - How Long Copyright Protection Endures
|
||
----------------------------------------------
|
||
Works Originally Copyrighted on or After January 1, 1978
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------
|
||
A work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time)
|
||
on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the
|
||
moment of its creation, and it is ordinarily given a term enduring for
|
||
the author's life, plus an additional 50 years after the author's
|
||
death. In the case of "a joint work prepared by two or more authors
|
||
who did not work for hire," the term lasts for 50 years after the last
|
||
surviving author's death. For works made for hire, and for anonymous
|
||
and pseudonymous works (unless the author's identity is revealed in
|
||
Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 75 years
|
||
from publication or 100 years from creation, whichever is shorter.
|
||
Works that were created but not published or registered for
|
||
copyright before January 1, 1978, have been automatically brought
|
||
under the statute and are now given Federal copyright protection. The
|
||
duration of copyright in these cases will generally be computed in the
|
||
same way as for works created on or after January 1,1978. The law
|
||
provides that in no case will the term of copyright for works in this
|
||
category expire before December 31, 2002, and for works published on
|
||
or before December 31, 2002, the term of copyright will not expire
|
||
before December 31, 2027.
|
||
|
||
Works Copyrighted Before January 1, 1978
|
||
----------------------------------------
|
||
Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured either
|
||
on the date a work was published or on the date of registration if the
|
||
work was registered in unpublished form. In either case, the copyright
|
||
endured for a first term of 28 years from the date it was secured.
|
||
During the last (28th) year of the first term, the copyright was
|
||
eligible for renewal. The current copyright laws has extended the
|
||
renewal term from 28 to 47 years for copyrights that were subsisting
|
||
on January 1, 1978, making the works eligible for a total term of
|
||
protection of 75 years. However, the copyright MUST be renewed to
|
||
receive the 47-year period of added protection. This is accomplished
|
||
by filing a properly completed Form RE accompanied by a $6 filing fee
|
||
in the Copyright Office before the end of the 28th calendar year of
|
||
the original term.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Part 8 - Transfer of Copyright
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
Any or all of the exclusive rights, or any subdivision of those
|
||
rights, of the copyright owner may be transferred, but the transfer of
|
||
exclusive rights is not valid unless that transfer is in writing and
|
||
signed by the owner of the rights conveyed (or such owner's duly
|
||
authorized agent). Transfer of a right on a nonexclusive basis does
|
||
not require a written agreement.
|
||
A copyright may also be conveyed by operation of law and may be
|
||
bequeathed by will or pass as personal property by the applicable laws
|
||
of intestate succession.
|
||
Copyright is a personal property right, and it is subject to the
|
||
various state laws and regulations that govern the ownership,
|
||
inheritance, or transfer of personal property as well as terms of
|
||
contracts or conduct of business. For information about relevant state
|
||
laws, you are advised to consult with an attorney within your state.
|
||
Transfers of copyright are normally made by contract. The
|
||
Copyright Office does not have or supply any forms for such transfers.
|
||
However, the law does provide for the recordation in the Copyright
|
||
Office of transfers of copyright ownership. Although recordation is
|
||
not required to make a valid transfer between the parties, it does
|
||
provide certain legal advantages and may be required to validate the
|
||
transfer as against third parties. (See Circular 12)
|
||
|
||
Termination of Transfers
|
||
------------------------
|
||
Under the previous law, the copyright in a work generally reverted
|
||
to the author, if living, or if the author was not living, to other
|
||
specified beneficiaries, provided a renewal claim was registered in
|
||
the 28th year of the original term. The present law drops the renewal
|
||
feature except for works already in the first term of statutory
|
||
protection when the present law took effect. Instead, the present law
|
||
generally permits termination of a grant of rights after 35 years
|
||
under certain conditions by serving written notice on the transferee
|
||
within specified time limits.
|
||
For works already under statutory copyright protection before
|
||
1978, the present law provides a similar right of termination covering
|
||
the newly added years that extended the former maximum term of the
|
||
copyright from 56 to 75 years. (See Circulars 15a and 15t)
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Part 9 - International Copyright Protection
|
||
-------------------------------------------
|
||
There is no such thing as an "international copyright" that will
|
||
automatically protect an author's work throughout the entire world.
|
||
Protection against unauthorized use in a particular country depends,
|
||
basically, on the national laws of that country. However, most
|
||
countries do offer protection to foreign works under certain
|
||
conditions, and these conditions have been greatly simplified by
|
||
international copyright treaties and conventions. (See Circular 38a)
|
||
The United States is a member of the Universal Copyright Conven-
|
||
tion (the UCC), which came into force on September 16, 1955.
|
||
Generally, a work by a national or domiciliary of a country that is a
|
||
member of the UCC or a work first published in a UCC country may claim
|
||
protection under the UCC. If the work bears the notice of copyright in
|
||
the form and position specified by the UCC, this notice will satisfy
|
||
and substitute for any formalities a UCC member country would
|
||
otherwise impose as a condition of copyright. A UCC notice should
|
||
consist of the symbol (c) -- the letter "C" in a circle -- accompanied
|
||
by the name of the copyright proprietor and the year of first
|
||
publication of the work. (Note: to qualify, a work must be considered
|
||
"published." Unpublished works do not generally qualify. See
|
||
definition of "a published work" above.)
|
||
An author who wishes protection for his or her work in a
|
||
particular country should first find out the extent of protection of
|
||
foreign works in that country. If possible, this should be done before
|
||
the work is published anywhere, since protection may often depend on
|
||
the facts existing at the time of FIRST publication.
|
||
If the country in which protection is sought is a party to one
|
||
of the international copyright conventions, the work may generally be
|
||
protected by complying with the conditions of the convention. Even if
|
||
the work cannot be brought under an international convention,
|
||
protection under the specific provisions of the country's national
|
||
laws may still be possible. Some countries, however, offer little or
|
||
no copyright protection for foreign works.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Copyrights - Part 10a
|
||
--------------------
|
||
|
||
Copyright Registration
|
||
----------------------
|
||
In general, copyright registration is a legal formality
|
||
intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular
|
||
copyright. However, except in two specific situations, registration is
|
||
not a condition of copyright protection. (The two specific situations
|
||
are: Works published with notice of copyright prior to January 1,
|
||
1978, must be registered and renewed during the first 28-year term of
|
||
copyright to maintain protection. Under section 405 and 406 of the
|
||
Copyright Act, copyright registration may be required to preserve a
|
||
copyright that would otherwise be invalidated because the copyright
|
||
notice was omitted from the published copies or phonorecords, or the
|
||
name or year date was omitted, or certain errors were made in the year
|
||
date.) Even though registration is not generally a requirement for
|
||
protection, the copyright law provides several inducements or
|
||
advantages to encourage copyright owners to make registration. Among
|
||
these advantages are the following:
|
||
|
||
- Registration establishes a public record of the copyright
|
||
claim;
|
||
- Registration is ordinarily necessary before any infringement
|
||
suits may be filed in court;
|
||
- If made before or within 5 years of publication, registration
|
||
will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of
|
||
the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate; and
|
||
- If registration is made within 3 months adfter publication of
|
||
the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory
|
||
damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright
|
||
owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual
|
||
damages and profits is available to the copyright owner.
|
||
|
||
Registration may be made at any time within the life of the
|
||
copyright. Unlike the law before 1978 (i.e., effective in 1978, while
|
||
passed in 1976), when a work has been registered in unpublished form,
|
||
it is not necessary to make another registration when the work becomes
|
||
published (although the copyright owner msy choose to register the
|
||
published edition, if desired).
|
||
|
||
Registration Procedures
|
||
-----------------------
|
||
In General:
|
||
|
||
A. To register a work, send the following three elements IN THE
|
||
SAME ENVELOPE OR PACKAGE to the Register of Copyrights, Copyright
|
||
Office, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20559:
|
||
|
||
|
||
1. A properly completed application form;
|
||
2. A nonrefundable filing fee of $10 for each application;
|
||
3. A nonreturnable deposit of the work being registered.
|
||
The deposit requirements vary in particular situations. The
|
||
GENERAL requirements follow. Also note that information
|
||
under "Special Deposit Requirements" will follow this
|
||
section (but in a different post).
|
||
|
||
- If the work is unpublished, one complete copy or phono-
|
||
record.
|
||
- If the work was first published in the United States on or
|
||
after January 1, 1978, two complete copies or phonorecords
|
||
of the best edition.
|
||
- If the work was first published in the United States before
|
||
January 1, 1978, two complete copies or phonorecords of the
|
||
work as first published.
|
||
- If the work was first published outside the United States,
|
||
whenever published, one complete copy or phonorecord of the
|
||
work as first published.
|
||
|
||
NOTE: Before 1978, the copyright law required, as a condition for
|
||
copyright protection, that all copies published with the
|
||
authorization of the copyright owner bear a proper notice.
|
||
If a work was published under the copyright owner's
|
||
authority before January 1, 1978, without a proper
|
||
copyright notice, all copyright protection for that work
|
||
was permanently lost in the United States. The current
|
||
copyright law does not provide retroactive protection for
|
||
those works.
|
||
|
||
B. To register a renewal, send:
|
||
|
||
1. A properly completed RE application form, and
|
||
2. A nonrefundable filing fee of $6 for each work.
|
||
|
||
Copyrights - Part 10b
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
Special Deposit Requirements
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
Special deposit requirements exist for many types of work. In
|
||
some instances, only one copy is required for published works, in
|
||
other instances only identifying material is required, and in still
|
||
other instances, the deposit requirement may be unique. For example,
|
||
in the case of a published motion picture, only one copy of the work
|
||
is required, but is must be accompanied by a separate written
|
||
description of the work. In the case of works reproduced in
|
||
three-dimensional copies, identifying material such as photographs or
|
||
drawings is ordinarily required. Other examples of special deposit
|
||
requirements (but by no means an exhaustive list) include many works
|
||
of the visual arts, such as greeting cards, toys, fabric, oversized
|
||
material; video games and other machine-readable audiovisual works;
|
||
and contribution to collective works.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Unpublished Collections
|
||
-----------------------
|
||
A work may be registered in unpublished form as a "collection,"
|
||
with one application and one fee, under the following conditions:
|
||
|
||
- The elements of the collection are assembled in an orderly
|
||
form;
|
||
- The combined elements bear a single title identifying the
|
||
collection as a whole;
|
||
- The copyright claimant in all the elements and in the
|
||
collection as a whole is the same; and
|
||
- All of the elements are by the same author, or, if they
|
||
are by different authors, at least one of the authors has
|
||
contributed copyrightable authorship to each element.
|
||
|
||
Unpublished collections are indexed in the Catalog of Copyright
|
||
Entries opnly under the collection titles.
|
||
If you are unsure of the proper deposit required for your work,
|
||
write to te Copyright Office for that information and describe the
|
||
work you wish to register.
|
||
|
||
NOTE: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBERS:
|
||
A Library of Congress Catalog Card Number is different from a
|
||
copyright registration number. The Cataloging in Publication (CIP)
|
||
Division of the Library of Congress is responsible for assigning LC
|
||
Catalog Card Numbers and is operationally separate from the Copyright
|
||
Office. A book may be registered in or deposited with the Copyright
|
||
Office but not necessarily cataloged and added to the Library's
|
||
collections. For information about obtaining an LC Catalog Card
|
||
Number, contact the CIP Division, Library of Congress, Washington,
|
||
D.C. 20540. For information on International Standard Book Numbering
|
||
(ISBN), write to: ISBN Agency, R.R.Bowker Company, 205 East 42nd
|
||
Street, New York, N.Y. 10017. For information on International
|
||
Standard Serial Numbering (ISSN), write to: Library of Congress,
|
||
National Serials Data Program, Washington, D.C. 20540.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Copyrights - Part 11a
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
Corrections and Amplifications of Existing Registrations
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------
|
||
To correct an error in a copyright registration or to amplify
|
||
the ionformation given in a registration, file a supplementary
|
||
registration form -- FORM CA -- with the Copyright Office. The
|
||
information in a supplementary registration augments but does not
|
||
supersede that contained in the earlier registration. Note also that a
|
||
supplementary registration is not a substitute for an original
|
||
registration, for a renewal registration, or for recording a transfer
|
||
of ownership. For further information, write to the Copyright Office
|
||
and request Circular 8.
|
||
|
||
Mandatory Deposit for Works Published in the United States with Notice
|
||
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
of Copyright
|
||
------------
|
||
Although a copyright registration is not required, the Copyright
|
||
Act establishes a mandatory deposit requirement for works published
|
||
with notice of copyright in the United States. In general, the owner
|
||
of copyright, or the owner of the exclusive right of publication in
|
||
the work, has a legal obligation to deposit in the Copyright Office,
|
||
within three months of publication in the U.S., two copies (or, in the
|
||
case of sound recordings, two phonorecords) for the use of the Library
|
||
of Congress. Failure to make the deposit can result in fines and other
|
||
penalties, but does not affect copyright protection.
|
||
Certain categories of works are EXEMPT ENTIRELY from the mandatory
|
||
deposit requirements, and the obligation is reduced for certain other
|
||
categories. For further information, contact the Copyright Office and
|
||
request Circular 7d.
|
||
|
||
Use of Mandatory Deposit to Satisfy Registration Requirements
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
For works published in the U.S. the Copyright Act contains
|
||
a provision under which a single deposit can be made to sarisfy both
|
||
the deposit requirements for the Library and the registration
|
||
requirements. In order to have this dual effect, the copies or
|
||
phonorecords must be accompanied by the prescribed application and fee
|
||
for registration.
|
||
|
||
Who May File an Application Form
|
||
--------------------------------
|
||
The following persons are legally entitled to submit an
|
||
application form:
|
||
|
||
- The author. This is either the person who actually created
|
||
the work, or, if the work was made for hire, the employer or
|
||
other person for whom the work was prepared.
|
||
|
||
|
||
- The copyright claimant. The copyright claimant is defined
|
||
in the Copyright Office regulations as either the author of
|
||
the work or a person or organization that has obtained
|
||
ownership of all the rights under the copyright initially
|
||
belonging to the author. This category includes a person or
|
||
organization who has obtained by contract the right to claim
|
||
legal title to the copyright in an application for copyright
|
||
registration.
|
||
|
||
- The owner of exclusive right(s). Under the new law, any of the
|
||
exclusive rights that go to make up a copyright and any
|
||
subdivision of them can be transferred and owned separately,
|
||
even though the transfer may be limited in time or place of
|
||
effect. The term "copyright owner" with respect to any one of
|
||
the exclusive rights contained in a copyright refers to the
|
||
owner of that particular right. Any owner of an exclusive
|
||
right may apply for registration of a claim in the work.
|
||
|
||
- The duly authorized agent of such author, other copyright
|
||
claimant, or owner of exclusive right(s). Any person
|
||
authorized to act on behalf of the author, other copyright
|
||
claimant, or owner of exclusive right(s) may apply for
|
||
registration.
|
||
|
||
There is no requirement that applications be prepared or filed by an
|
||
attorney.
|
||
|
||
Copyrights - Part 12
|
||
--------------------
|
||
|
||
Application Forms
|
||
-----------------
|
||
Though not part of our original outline, we have decided to
|
||
provide you with the information regarding the specific application
|
||
forms required for particular materials.
|
||
|
||
1. For Original Registration
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
|
||
Form TX: for published and unpublished non-dramatic literary
|
||
works.
|
||
|
||
Form SE: for serials, works issued or intended to be issued in
|
||
successive parts bearing numerical or chronological
|
||
designations and intended to be continued indefinitely
|
||
(periodicals, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, annuals,
|
||
journals, etc.)
|
||
|
||
|
||
Form PA: for published and unpublished works of the performing
|
||
arts (musical and dramatic works, pantomimes and
|
||
choreographic works, motion pictures and other audiovisual
|
||
works)
|
||
|
||
Form VA: for published and unpublished works of the visual arts
|
||
(pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works)
|
||
|
||
Form SR: for published and unpublished sound recordings
|
||
|
||
2. For Renewal Registration
|
||
---------------------------
|
||
|
||
Form RE: for claims to renewal copyright works copyrighted under
|
||
the law in effect through December 31, 1977 (1909
|
||
Copyright Act)
|
||
|
||
3. For Corrections and Amplifications
|
||
-------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Form CA: for supplementary registration to correct or amplify
|
||
informationm given in the Copyright Office record of an
|
||
earlier registration.
|
||
|
||
4. For a Group of Contributions to Periodicals
|
||
----------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Form
|
||
GR/CP: ad adjunct application to be used for registration of a
|
||
group of contributions to peridicals in addition to an
|
||
application Form TX, PA, or VA
|
||
|
||
Applications are supplied by the Copyright Office. You may obtain free
|
||
copies by calling (202) 707-9100.
|
||
|
||
Mailing Instructions
|
||
--------------------
|
||
All applications and materials related to copyright registration
|
||
should be addressed to the Register of Copyrights, Copyright Office,
|
||
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20559.
|
||
|
||
The application, nonreturnable deposit (copies, phonorecords, or
|
||
identifying material), and nonrefundable filing fee should be mailed
|
||
in the same package. Fees must be in U.S. funds drawn on an American
|
||
Bank.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Effective Date of Registration
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
A copyright registration is effective on the date of receipt in
|
||
the Copyright Office of all the required elements in accdeptable form,
|
||
regardless of the length of time it takes thereafter to process the
|
||
application and mail the certificate of registration. The length of
|
||
time required by the Copyright Office to process an application varies
|
||
from time to time.
|
||
If you are filing an application for copyright registration in
|
||
the Copyright Office, you will NOT receive an acknowledgement that
|
||
your application has been received, but you can expect within 120
|
||
days:
|
||
- A letter or telephone call from a copyright examiner if
|
||
further information is needed;
|
||
- A certificate of registration to indicate the work has been
|
||
registered, or if the application cannot be accepted, a letter
|
||
explaining why it has been rejected.
|
||
If you want to know when the Copyright Office receives your
|
||
material, you should send it by registered or certified mail and
|
||
request a return receipt from the post office. Allow at least three
|
||
weeks for the return of your receipt.
|
||
=======================================================================
|
||
This completes our discussion of copyrights in general. In our next
|
||
post in the near future, we'll provide you with information on Circular
|
||
61 - Copyright Registration for Computer Programs, and on Circular 93
|
||
- Highlights of the U.S. Adherence to the Berne Convention.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253
|