Intellectual Property Copyright Law
Copyright laws protect original works from illegal use of the author's intellectual property. Often, these laws are misunderstood, causing them to sometimes be infringed unintentionally. To fully understand copyright law, you must understand the various types of intellectual property law, what types of work are copyrightable, who can claim a copyright, how to register a copyright, how long copyrights last and how to avoid violations.
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What Is Copyright Law?
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Copyright laws in the U.S. are intended to protect intellectual property. This includes musical, dramatic, literary, artistic and other works. Copyright protects works such as poetry, novels, songs, paintings, computer software and movies. Under copyright laws, authors are ensured that they have exclusive rights to their work and are the only individuals who can authorize the copy, distribution, performance and display of their creative works for a set period of time. Ideas, systems, methods of operation and facts cannot be copyrighted. However, a particular expression of them can be, but should not be confused with trademarks and patents. Trademarks protect words, symbols, designs and phrases that distinguish a maker's goods and services from others.
Who Can Claim a Copyright?
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The original author is the only person who can claim a copyright. This sometimes gets confusing when multiple people are involved. For instance, an employer can ask an employee to create a form of intellectual property such a commercial jingle for a business. This is known as "made-for-hire works," and the employer owns the copyright. Furthermore, state laws vary regarding minor-owned copyright materials, though most will recognize works created by minors. In addition, copyrights can be sold and inherited.
Registration
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A work becomes copyrighted upon completion into a tangible form. There is no legal requirement to register a copyright, but it's required if you need to sue for infringement sometime in the future. You can choose to register your copyright voluntarily by contacting the U.S. Copyright Office and pay a fee. Once your copyright is registered, you will receive a certification.
Time Frame
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A work created after Jan. 1, 1978, is protected as long as the author lives, plus 70 years. Anonymous work has a copyright term of 95 years from creation. Chapter 3 of the Copyright Act explains in detail the restrictions on works copyrighted before 1978. Once a copyright term has expired, the work enters into the public domain. The work can then be used without payment or permission. You must search the U.S Copyright Office records, or contact the office to do a paid search for you before you try to register your copyright. You can also consult with an intellectual property attorney about the use of particular works.
Fair Use
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Fair Use makes it legal for certain works to be used for certain purposes, such as criticism, comment, education, research and news reporting. There are four elements to determining fair use. These are whether the use is nonprofit or commercial, the purpose, the type of copyrighted material, the effect of the use on the value of the work and the amount of the work being used. Contact a copyright attorney before attempting to claim fair use.
Violations
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Whether it is done purposely or unintentionally, a copyright infringement is illegal. In 2000, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was created after the end of the famous lawsuit against music-sharing website Napster. DMCA puts traditional copyright law into work on the Internet. If a website is found to be sharing or selling copyrighted works without authorization, the owner of the work can send the website owner a DMCA notice, and under the law, the website owners are required to remove the protected materials from the site immediately.
If a resolution cannot be obtained between parties when an infringement occurs, civil suits may be filed in court. The author of the copyrighted work must then prove infringement and request a court order mandating that the violator stop using the material and pay monetary damages for loss in profits and attorney fees.
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