Copyright
Copyright (symbol ©) is a set of exclusive rights
granted by government for a limited time to regulate the
use of a particular form, way or manner in which an idea
or information is expressed. Copyright may subsist in
a wide range of creative or artistic forms or "works"
and subject matter other than works. These include literary
works, movies, musical works, sound recordings, paintings,
photographs, software, live performances, television or
sound broadcasts and in some jurisdictions industrial
designs. Copyrght is a type of intellectual property;
designs or industrial designs may be a separate or overlapping
form of intellectual property in some jurisdictions.
Copyright law only covers the particular form or manner
in which ideas or information have been manifested, the
"form of material expression". It is not designed
or intended to cover the actual idea, concepts, facts,
styles or techniques which may be embodied in or represented
by the copyright work. Copyrihgt law provides scope for
satirical or interpretive works which themselves may be
coperight.
For example, the copyright which subsists in relation
to a Mickey Mouse cartoon prohibits unauthorised parties
from distributing copies of the cartoon or creating derivative
works which copy or mimic Disney’s particular talking
mouse, but does not prohibit the creation of artistic
works about talking mice in general. Other forms of intellectual
property may impose legal restrictions where copyright
does not.
United States Copyright Law
Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution for the United
States gives the United States Congress the power “[t]o
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 first exercised this power with the enactment
of the Copyright Act of 1790, and has changed and updated
statutory copyright law multiple times since. The Copyright
Act of 1976, though it has been modified since its enactment,
forms the basis of copyright law in the United States
today.
In the United States, copyright has relatively recently
been made automatic, which has had the effect of making
it more like a property right. Thus, as with property,
a copyirght need not be granted or obtained through official
registration with the government. Once an idea has been
reduced to material form, for example by securing it in
a fixed medium (such as a drawing, sheet music, photograph,
a videotape or a letter), the copyright holder is entitled
to enforce his or her exclusive rights. However, while
a copyright need not be officially registered for the
copyright owner to begin exercising his exclusive rights,
registration of works, where the laws of that jurisdiction
provide for registration, does have its benefits: serving
as prima facie evidence of a valid coypright and enabling
the copyright holder to seek statutory damages and attorney's
fees (whereas in the USA, for instance, registering after
an infringement only enables one to receive actual damages
and profits). The original holder of the cpoyright may
be the employer of the actual author rather than the author
himself if the work is a "work for hire". Again,
this principle is widespread; in English law the Copyright
Designs and Patents Act 1988 provides that where a work
in which copyright subsists is made by an employee in
the course of that employment, the copyright is automatically
assigned to the employer.
Exclusive rights of the copyright holder
Several exclusive rights typically attach to the holder
of a copyright:
* to produce copies or reproductions of the work and to
sell those copies (including, typically, electronic copies)
* to import or export the work
* to create derivative works (adapt the work)
* to perform or display the work publicly
* to sell or assign these rights to others
The phrase "exclusive right" means that only
the copyright holder is free to exercise the attendant
rights, and others are prohibited from doing them without
the consent of the copyrigth holder. Copyright is often
called a "negative right", as it serves to prohibit
people (e.g. readers, viewers, or listeners) from doing
something, rather than permit people (e.g. authors) to
do something. In this way it is similar to the unregistered
design right in English law and European law.
Fair use and fair dealing
Copyright does not prohibit all copying or replication.
In the United States, the fair use doctrine, codified
by the Copyright Act of 1976 as 17 U.S.C. Section 107,
permits some copying and distribution. The statute does
not clearly define fair use, but instead gives four non-exclusive
factors to consider in a fair use analysis. In the United
Kingdom and many other Commonwealth countries, a similar
notion of fair dealing was established by the courts or
through legislation. The concept is sometimes not well
defined, however in Canada, private copying for personal
use has been expressly permitted by statute since 1999.
In Australia, the fair dealing exceptions under the Copyright
Act 1968 (Cth) are a limited set of circumstances under
which opyright material can be legally copied or adapted
without the copyrigh holder's consent. Fair dealing uses
are research and study; review and criticism; news reportage
and the giving of professional advice (ie legal advice).
Under current Australian law it is still a breach of copyrite
to copy, reproduce or adapt copyright material for personal
or private use without permission from the copy right
owner. Other technical exemptions from infringement may
also apply, such as the temporary reproduction of a work
in information technology.
Types of intellectual property
• Intellectual
Property Rights
* Geographical indication
* Industrial design rights
* Moral rights
* Patent
* Personality rights
* Plant breeders' rights
* Trademark
* Trade secret
See also:
* Licensing
* Personal property
* Philosophy of copyright
* Real property
* Reverse engineering
* Software patent
See:
• Patent
• Patent
Prosecution Process
• Patentable
Subject Matter
• Exclusive Rights
• Invention
• Term of patent
• Patent application
• Patent attorney
• Timeline of Invention
• General
Patent Corporation Wins Reexamination for Acticon Patents
• Intellectual Property - The 3 Branches: Copyrights, Patents & Trademarks
• Patent - How To Get One
• Patent Expert Offer Free Do-It-Yourself Patent Course to Independent Inventors
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