Why was copyright invented?
U.S. Constitution Article I Section 8 | Clause 8 – Patent and Copyright Clause of the Constitution. [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.”
• Congress is the legislative, or lawmaking, branch of our national government.
What does copyright allow you to do?
Applies to “original works of authorship.” Copyright is an exclusive legal right given to creators to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute their work--be it literary, musical, or artistic--for a limited period of time.
When does copyright apply?
Copyright protection occurs immediately from the time a work is “created”. A work does not have to have a ©copyright notice and it does not have to be registered to be copyrighted.
Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is “created”= fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.
What does copyright cover?
https://www.copyright.gov/title17/title17.pdf Page 8 of PDF
Under 17 USCS section 102 the following is protected:
Literature
Music and lyrics
Drama
Pantomime and dance
Pictures, graphics, sculpture
Films
Sound Recordings
Architecture
Software
Intellectual Property: Is intangible property.
What does it not apply to?
Copyright protection DOES NOT APPLY to ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles or discovery "regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work."
What about my recipe for PEPSI? Copyright law does not protect recipes that are mere listings of ingredients. Nor does it protect other mere listings of ingredients such as those found in formulas, compounds, or prescriptions. Copyright protection may, however, extend to substantial literary expression—a description, explanation, or illustration, for example—that accompanies a recipe or formula or to a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook.
• works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded)
• titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents
• ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration
• works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources)
How long does copyright last?
(a)In General.—
Copyright in a work created on or after January 1, 1978, subsists from its creation and, except as provided by the following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and 70 years after the author’s death.
(b)Joint Works.—
In the case of a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire, the copyright endures for a term consisting of the life of the last surviving author and 70 years after such last surviving author’s death.
What is the Public Domain?
A work of authorship that is not protected by copyright is in the public
domain. In the United States, a copyrighted work enters the public domain when its full
copyright term has expired.
• Copyright has expired for all works published in the United States before 1923. In other words, if the work was published in the U.S. before January 1, 1923, you are free to use it in the U.S. without permission.
• Materials created by the federal government are generally part of the public domain and may be used, reproduced and distributed without permission.
What is fair use? (see page 19 f PDF: https://www.copyright.gov/title17/title17.pdf)
(in Section 107 of the Copyright Act) the doctrine that brief excerpts of copyright material may, under certain circumstances, be quoted verbatim for purposes such as criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research, without the need for permission from or payment to the copyright holder.
Section 107 calls for consideration of the following four factors in evaluating a question of fair use:
1. Purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes: Additionally, “transformative” uses are more likely to be considered fair. Transformative uses are those that add something new, with a further purpose or different character, and do not substitute for the original use of the work.
2. Nature of the copyrighted work: Because the dissemination of facts or information benefits the public, you have more leeway to copy from factual works such as biographies than you do from fictional works such as plays or novels.
3. Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work: Under this factor, courts look at both the quantity and quality of the copyrighted material that was used. If the use includes a large portion of the copyrighted work, fair use is less likely to be found; if the use employs only a small amount of copyrighted material, fair use is more likely. That said, some courts have found use of an entire work to be fair under certain circumstances. And in other contexts, using even a small amount of a copyrighted work was determined not to be fair because the selection was an important part—or the “heart”—of the work.
4. Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work: Here, courts review whether, and to what extent, the unlicensed use harms the existing or future market for the copyright owner’s original work
What is trademark?
A trademark is generally a word, phrase, symbol, or design, or a combination thereof, that
identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of other. A trademark identifies goods or services as being from a particular source.
Is federal registration of my mark required?
No. In the United States, parties are not required to register their marks to obtain protectable rights.
You can establish “common law” rights in a mark based solely on use of the mark in commerce,
without a registration.
Creative Commons
Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share.[2] The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons licenses free of charge to the public. These licenses allow creators to communicate which rights they reserve, and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators.
- by Adrian M. Spring, 2020
