Copyright Laws

Copyrights

Copyright laws give rights to the ownership and exclusive use of creative works for artistic and industrial purposes. Holders of a copyright have rights to the copyrighted work, as well as all the recognition and financial benefits that come with it. Works covered by copyright include artwork, literature, tattoos, music, media, maps, computer programs, databases, architecture, and technical drawings. 

Learning Materials

Copyrights protect works that are intellectual creations in the fields of art, literature, music, and science. To be protected, the work must be an original creation, meaning the author must have infused the work with creativity.

No formalities, such as a © symbol, are required to establish copyright protection. A copyright is held by the author immediately upon creation of the original work; however, a copyright only applies within the territory of the country granting it.

The economic rights of a copyright are not unlimited. Although the duration of the copyright may vary, most laws provide the copyright starting with the creation of the work and maintain it for no less than 50 years after the creator’s death. 

Internationally, copyright laws are found in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and flexibility arrangements are found in the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement to the World Trade Organization (WTO). National laws may establish longer terms of protection. 

The original creator of the work and his or her heirs can financially benefit from the original creation for the duration of the copyright. Other types of copyrighted work, such as individual performances, may be linked to the date that the performance or broadcast occurred.  

A copyright includes protection as well. For example, copyright holders are able to claim exclusive authorship and prevent others from making slight alterations to copy or distort the work in a way that could be harmful to the reputation of the one who originally created the work.

There are several uses that do not constitute an infringement copyright. The most common non-infringing uses are that follows:

1.Court or an administrative proceeding

2. The police, should the material be needed to maintain public safety

3. instructional purposes

4. Purely private purpose

5.Brief quotations in scholarly articles, literary works, or reviews

6. Public domain

7. Extended quotations of newsworthy speeches or political commentaries

In the list above, the right to use copyrighted property for a purely private purpose does not apply to computer programs.

Some speeches or commentaries themselves can be the subject of copyright protection. For example, the famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. was found to be under copyright protection, and Dr. King held the exclusive rights to videos and images of the speech. Dr. King was also granted an injunction against a media group attempting to sell copies of the speech for profit (Leagle, 2014). 

A brief summary of the background of the controversy and copies of the famous speech can be found in the National Archives (2014) online at the following Web site

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(National Archives, 2014)

Copyright and the Internet

Intellectual property can be protected by copyright law. Copyright law gives "the exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work, whether printed, audio, video, etc." (Copyright, n.d.). As intellectual property migrates to the Internet, new issues of copyright law emerge. The move toward online communication and marketing techniques causes businesses, content creators, and online users to struggle with new legal and ethical issues.

As more and more users create, publish, and digitize content in the form of blogs, wikis, and more, new issues of intellectual property emerge. Intellectual property is "a product of the intellect that has commercial value, including copyrighted property such as literary or artistic works, and ideational property, such as patents, appellations of origin, business methods, and industrial processes" (Intellectual Property, n.d.).

Laws that are parallel to but distinct from copyright statutes have been enacted in some countries to protect new and unusual kinds of works. The rights created by such laws are often called neighboring rights, because they are neighbors to—but not part of—a copyright. Examples include laws protecting computer programs, semiconductor chips, and integrated circuits.

(World Intellectual Property Organization, 2000)