Introduction to Copyright

Copyright

Copyright protects original artistic and literary works that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixed form need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Categories of works subject to copyright protection include the following:

1. literary works
2. musical works, including any accompanying words
3. dramatic works, including any accompanying music
4. pantomimes and choreographic works
5. pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
6. motion pictures and other audiovisual works
7. sound recordings
8. architectural works

These categories are viewed broadly. For example, computer programs and most “compilations” may be registered as “literary works.” Maps and architectural plans may be registered as “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.”

Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among others:

• Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded)
• Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents
• Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration
• Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources)

Copyright Benefits

Copyright protection is provided by the laws of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) to authors of “original works of authorship.” This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

• To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
• To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
• To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
• To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
• To display the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and
• In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

In general, copyright registration is not a condition of copyright protection. However, the copyright law provides several inducements or advantages to encourage copyright owners to register their works. Among these advantages are the following:

• Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim.
• Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of US origin.
• If made before or within 5 years of publication, registration will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate.
• If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory treble damages and attorney’s fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner.
• Registration allows the owner of the copyright to record the registration with the US Customs Service for protection against the importation of infringing copies.

Length of Copyright Protection

Copyright protection commences at the time the work is “created” in fixed form and immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright. A work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. “Copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. “Phonorecords” are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as cassette tapes, CDs, or LPs. Thus, for example, a song can be fixed in sheet music or on a compact disc, or both.

For works that were created on or after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts from the moment of its creation and endures for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death. In the case of a joint work prepared by two or more authors, the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author’s death. For works made for employers, commissioned work, or for anonymous work, the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.