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INTRODUCTION TO COPYRIGHT ACT

USA

Submitted By:

Sudhanshu Bharti (VIT- CS)

Structure of the Presentation

Three parts

(1) Copyright in US (2) Infringement of Copyright (3) Case Study: Copyrighting Digital

Techniques

What is Copyright?

“The exclusive right given by law for a certain term of years to an author, composer etc. (or his assignee) to print, publish and sell copies of his original work” (Oxford English Dictionary)

Why Copyright?

Fair Play: Reward creative efforts.

Exclusive rights for limited time → Negative right: prevent copying/reproduction

Copyright is necessary → encourage dissemination of copyrighted works = public interest

The Copyright Act 1976

US Constitution

Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 gave Congress

the power to enact laws “To promote theprogress of science and useful arts, bysecuring for limited times to authors andinventors the exclusive right to theirrespective writings and discoveries.”

United States

First Act in 1790: did not protect foreign authors

Indigenous American literature suffered

Today: Copyright Act 1976 one of the major copyright laws in the world

Copyright Act 1976 – Main Features

Valid from 1 January 1978

Created by United States Patent and Trademark Office

Introduced Time bound work & creativity avoiding infringement

Copyright Act 1976 – Purpose

To give the creator control and a monopoly on royalties for a period of time promotes creativity

All creators, including photographers and illustrators are entitled to be paid if their work is used, commercially or otherwise. This encourages creativity and makes more images available for use.

How Copyright protects works

Copyright protects "original works of authorship" that are fixed in "a tangible form of expression." The fixed form does not have to be directly perceptible so long as it can be communicated with the aid of a machine or other device.

What Works are Protected?

Must be an original work of authorship, meaning that the work must be independently created by the author (as opposed to copied from other works).

The U.S.’ required level of originality is very low. Other countries’ laws may differ in this respect.

Literary works (e.g., all text, including computer software);

Musical works; Dramatic works; Pantomimes and choreographic

works; Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural

works; Motion pictures and other

audiovisual works;

What Works are Not Protected?

Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression

Titles, names; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of lettering; mere listings of ingredients or content

Works consisting entirely of common property, containing no original authorship

Ideas, procedures, concepts, principles

Registration Process

A copyright owner must: File an application; Pay a nominal filing fee ($30); and Deposit copies of the work at the

Copyright Office. Some of the works may be added to the collections of the Library of Congress.

Registration

Registration is administered by the U.S. Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.

Forms available at www.copyright.gov

Registration does not involve complex examination of applications as for patents and trademarks.

What is Fair Use?

Class handouts of very short excerpts from a book;

Quoting for purposes of reporting the news or criticizing or commenting on a particular work of art, writing, speech or scholarship.

What is not Fair Use?

Using a photograph or other image to illustrate a newsworthy story (because the subject of the story is newsworthy it does not make the image newsworthy)

Who owns copyright?

A freelance artist who created the copyrighted work;

An employer who hires employees who create copyrighted works as part of their job.

Any person who is using the work only for personal use.

What is infringement?

Use of whole or part of an image without permission;

Use beyond the scope of a license; Adapting an image without

permission(art rendering, collage);

Asking another photographer to recreate the image.

Unauthorized use

This image was created by a computer graphics artist who “borrowed” images from several sources.

Original art

These are the two images that were infringed upon to create the Newsday

cover.

Change of medium is still an infringement

Recreating an image…

Who is responsible?

The company that directly infringed; Employees who participated in the

infringement or should have supervised; Anyone who publishes the infringing

image whether they had knowledge or not.

How to avoid infringement?

Obtain a license for all the uses that will be needed;

Obtain a license to create a derivative image;

Obtain an art rendering or art reference license to change the medium.

The WIPO “Internet” Treaties

Negotiated in 1996 under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization, part of the United Nations.

The WIPO Copyright Treaty entered into force with 30 ratifications on March 6, 2002.

The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty entered into force with 30 ratifications on May 20, 2002.

The U.S. implemented the Treaties through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Three New Obligations Established The Right of Making Available to the

Public; Legal Protection of Technological

Measures to Protect Copyrighted Works (“TPMs”); and

Legal Protection of Rights Management Information (“RMI”).

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

1998 U.S. implementation of the treaties;

Extends U.S. copyright law into the digital realm; and

Prohibits circumvention of technological protection measures;

Prevents tampering with rights management information;

Limits infringement liability for ISPs that meet certain criteria.

Universal Studios Vs. Reimerdes

Court – Started in 2d.Cir.(Second Circuit)

Date – August 17, 2000

Affirmed the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Case Study

The plaintiffs, 8 movie studios, successfully sought an injunction against the distribution of DeCSS, a program capable of decrypting content protected using the Content Scramble System (a DRM scheme commonly used to protect DVDs.)

Case Laws

It was produced and released without a license from DVD CCA, the trade organization responsible for DVD copy protection. DeCSS was released in October 1999 on LiViD, a mailing list focused on producing programming tools and software libraries relevant to DVD use on Linux.

Case Laws

The motion picture industry became aware of the existence of DeCSS later that same month and began litigation on a number of fronts.

The Case got registered in many courts. Both the district and appellate court rulings were

controversial. Despite the courts' rulings, DeCSS is still widely

available on the Internet.

Case Laws

Why should anyone care? Substantial monetary damages can be

awarded (actual damages; profits) Statutory damages ($750-$30,000 and up

to $150,000 if the infringement was willful)

The infringing use enjoined; Attorney’s fees

Popular Copyright Myths

if it’s on the internet it is in the public domain and therefore free;

if there is no copyright notice, I can use the image;

if I alter the image I don’t need permission;

if I don’t profit from it, I can use it; if I only use a part of the image I don’t

need permission.

BE CREATIVE...AND RESPECT COPYRIGHT

THANK YOU!