Overview of Copyright Law
Copyright applies to original works of authorship when they are fixed in any tangible medium of expression. The author of the work owns the copyright, which can be transferred to others. Generally, the copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. The copyright owner has the exclusive right to make copies of the work, distribute copies to the public, adapt the work, display the work publicly and perform the work publicly.
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History
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Copyright law has its basis in the U.S. Constitution, article I, section 8, which states that 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." Pursuant to this power, Congress enacted the U.S. Copyright Act, which is the source of copyright law in the U.S.
Definition
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In order for copyright protection to be triggered, there are three requirements: (1) a work of authorship, (2) that is original and (3) that is fixed in a tangible medium of expression.
Under the Copyright Act, there are eight categories of "works": literary, musical, dramatic, choreographic, graphic, audiovisual, sound and architectural. "Authors" means those who make any kind of creative work. It does not refer only to writers. The term "original" requires that the work is "independently created" and that it possesses "at least some minimal degree of creativity." And, a work is "fixed in a tangible medium of expression" when it is embodied as a material object that can be perceived or communicated "for a period of more than transitory duration."
Applying the three requirements, a broad range of works is protected by copyright, including novels, music, art, film, email, love letters, drawings, product labels, maps, advertisements and notes.
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The Facts
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The owner of a copyright has the following exclusive rights: (1) the "reproduction right," also known as the right to make copies, which gives the owner the right to reproduce the work; (2) the "adaptive right," which gives the owner the right to prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work; (3) the "public distribution right," which gives the owner the right to distribute copies of the work to the public by sale, lease, or lending; (4) the "public performance right," which gives the owner the right to perform the work publicly; and (5) the "public display right," which gives the owner the right to display the work publicly.
Violating any of these rights infringes on the copyright. For example, someone other than the author who makes and sells copies of a copyrighted book or makes a movie based upon that book without the author's permission would be violating the author's copyright.
Exceptions
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Copyright protects the particular way an author has expressed himself. It does not extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, discovery or factual information conveyed in the work. For example, if a book is written describing a new system of bookkeeping, copyright protection only extends to the author's description of the bookkeeping system; it does not protect the system itself.
In addition, "fair use" of a copyrighted work is not copyright infringement. Section 107 of the Copyright Act contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. To determine whether or not a particular use qualifies as "fair use," courts consider the purpose and nature of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, and the effect of the use on the copyrighted work.
Misconceptions
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There is no need to register the work with the Copyright Office or put a copyright notice (i.e., "© Author") on the work to obtain copyright protection. To the contrary, protection applies automatically. Registering with the Copyright Office and using a copyright notice do, however, provide practical advantages. For example, the remedies for infringement are greater and proving infringement is easier when the work is registered prior to the infringement. In addition, a court action for copyright infringement may not be commenced until the copyright has been formally registered with the Copyright Office.
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References
- "Intellectual Property: Examples & Explanations, Third Edition"; Stephen M. McJohn; 2009.
- Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service, 499 U.S. 340, 369 (1991)
- Cornell University Law School: U.S. Copyright Act
- Cornell University Law School: Legal Information Institute: Copyright
- U.S. Copyright Office: Basics of Copyright
Resources
- Photo Credit sign of the copyright, silver bevel symbol image by PaulPaladin from Fotolia.com
