SolveYourProblem Article Series: Copyrights
I Need To Understand Copyright Law
Copyright
Law: What Is It?
Copyright
law is a set of laws that are used to regulate things such
as movies, plays, poems, musical compositions, drawings,
paintings, sculptures, software, photographs, sculptures,
literary works, choreographic works, radio broadcasts, televisions
broadcasts and more. Copyright law is only regulated
to cover the manner or form in which the information or material
is
expressed. For instance, it does not cover the idea or facts
which are represented in a work. In instances where a copyright
does not exist, patents or trademarks may be in place which
can impose legal restrictions.
Copyright
law states that the holder of the copyright has the right
to make copies or reproduce the work to sell. They
can also export or import the work, create derivative or adaptation
of the original work, display or perform the work publicly
and assign or sell the rights to someone else. Copyright law
is set up to protect people from having someone do something
with their copyrighted work or material. Someone that has a
copyright may choose to exploit their copyrighted work, or
they may choose not to. Many people debate whether copyright
law and copyrights are moral rights or merely property rights.
It is important to note that in the U.S. copyright law covers
protection for published and unpublished works.
Copyright law protection covers a work from the time it is
created in a tangible form. The author or creator of the work
immediately holds the copyright to the work and it is the property
of the author or creator. No one else can claim copyright to
it, unless the original copyright holder (the author or creator)
gives or sells the rights to another person.
Many people fail to understand that merely owning or possessing
a work does not give them the copyright to it. Just
because you have ownership of a copyrighted work does not mean
that
you own the copyright. Likewise, if you copy someone’s work
and list their name on it, you are undertaking copyright infringement.
Many
people also fail to understand when copyright protection
is secured. The moment a work is written or created and it
is in physical tangible form or recorded it falls under copyright
law. While it is recommended to register your work through
the Copyright Office, if your work is not registered and someone
steals your work, they have violated your copyright. Using
a copyright notice is not required by law. However, many recommended
that the copyright notice or symbol be used so remind the general
public that the piece is under copyright. Anything that is
created after 1977 is protected by copyright law for the lifetime
of the author of the creator, plus an additional 70 years after
the creator’s death.
The public domain is a good source of information that is
no longer under a copyright or work that was never under a
copyright to begin with. Virtually all works that were created
or published in the United States prior to 1923 are said to
be in the public domain. Things that can be found in the public
domain that are free of copyright law generally include generic
facts and information, works that have a lapse in their copyrights
(this encompasses works that were created prior to 1978) and
materials and information put out by the United States government.
In addition, you may find works in the public domain that are
free of copyright law because it has been dedicated to the
public domain.
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: 2008
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