Copyright
Intangible property right granted by federal statute to the author or originator of a literary or artistic production
Acquire Copyright
Automatically given to works created (after 1978) life of author plus 70 years.
Length of Companies Copyright
95 years from date of publication
or
120 years from date of creation
(whichever is first)
Statute of Anne
1. Intellectual property is time-limited
2. Tries to encourage "learned men" to produce literature
3. 14 years on existing writings/discoveries, 21 for new.
Copyright Laws
No new copyright laws until 1787 in the United States Constitution "To promote the progress of science and useful arts and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." Article 1, Section 8
1. Difference is that the constitu
What is copyrightable?
Original works of authorship, consisting of copyrightable subject matter, fixed in a tangible medium of expression.
1. Original
2. Authorship
3. Copyrightable subject matter
4. Fixed
5. Tangible medium
1. Original
Minimalistic requirement; need not be completely novel, simply consist of new materials with a definite origin.
2. Work of authorship
a. The seat of the brow doctrine
a. Feist phonebook
i. Couldn't prove fake names, whitepages are not copyrightable
ii. No sweat of the brow doctrine in the United States
b. Works for hire
i. Work made by an employee as part of her regular duties
ii. Work
3. Copyrightable subject matter
a. Literary works
b. Musical
c. Dramatic
d. Pantomimes and choeographic works
e. Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural
f. Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
g. Sound recordings
h. Architectural works
i. Software code (sometimes)
Not Copyrightable
1. Facts
2. Ideas
3. Process
4. Procedures
5. Systems
6. Methods
7. Principles
8. Discoveries
9. Inventions
10. Words
11. Sounds
12. Colors
4. Fixed
The work must be set down in some immutable way
(ie if song, NOT simply whistled, but written down or recorded or, if a poem, NOT written in the sand by the shoreline but rather on paper)
The separability issue
(Only applies to pictorial, graphic, and scultural works
1. Is it possible to separate the Artistic elements of the work from itz functional elements?
2. If yes, then only the artistic elements are copyrightable
3. If not, then the object is not copyright
5. Tangible medium
Photo on camera isn't physical identifiable, understood. These are characteristic of being tangible.
The Work must be recorded in some medium that is Identifiable, Understood, and that has some Physicality
How do you get a copyright?
Copyrights AUTOMATICALLY accrue to the author of the eligible work upon production; NOTHING is required of the author to claim or acquire her copyright.
Statutory remedies:
require filing the work with the US patent and Trademark Office.
sold or waived
Copyrights may be _______ or _______ by contract, like any property.
Copyright Infringement:
Form or expression of an idea is copied.
The reproduction does not have to be exactly the same as the original nor in entirety.
Just a substantial part of original is reproduced
Damages for Copyright Infringement
liable for damages or criminal penalties:
1. actual damages
2. statutory damages (not over $150k)
3. fines or imprisonment
Fair Use Exception
Purposes:
1. Scholarship
2. Research
3. Criticism
4. Comment
5. News
6. Reporting
7. Teaching
Fair Use Factors:
1. Purpose and character of the use, including whether it is for a commercial purpose
2. Nature of the copyrighted work
3. Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and
4. The effect of the use upon the
Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998
An Anti-Piracy Law
"No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title."
"No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, or otherwise traffic in any technology, service, or p
Article 1, Section 8
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.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
This means, literally, that it now belongs to the people and that it may be used in any manner that anyone wishes; it becomes part of the fabric of our culture, to be reinterpreted and reimagined freely.
What does it mean to have a copyright?
The holder of a copyright has the exclusive rights to:
1. Produce
2. Copy
3. Distribute
4. Have attribution for
Display
6. Perform (with one exception, to be described later)
7. Prepare derivative works
Rights not bestowed by copyright
1. The First Sale Doctrine
2. The Compulsory License for Performances
3. Photographs of building facades and public displays
4. Certain Remedies
5. The Fair Use exception to copyright
Analyzing an Infringement:
1. Is it a valid copyright?
2. Did Defendant Copy or Distribute, etc. ?
3. The Access/Similarity spectrum
(expert testimony used)
4. The Substantial Similarity test
(ordinary consumer/layperson standard used)
5. The Fair Use defense
6. Remedies
The only affirmative defense to copyright infringement
Fair Use
Visual Artists Rights Act
VARA was the first federal copyright legislation to grant protection to moral rights. Under VARA, works of art that meet certain requirements afford their authors additional rights in the works, regardless of any subsequent physical ownership of the work
recognized stature
VARA exclusively grants authors of works that fall under the protection of the Act the following rights
right to claim authorship
right to prevent the use of one's name on any work the author did not create
right to prevent use of one's name on any work t