 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
A copyright is a government document used to assure ownership of some document or other work to its original author and to limit its use by others. A copyright can be obtained for many different types of works. Some of these works include literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. The author of a similar work may wish to obtain a copyright to make sure that he receives all benefits from this particular work. Copyright laws give the author, and nobody else, exclusive rights to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform and display the work publicly. For example if someone creates a document or a play, they will not want others making copies of this document or performing this play and selling it to others to benefit from the authors work. For this purpose there is a copyright law to assure that the benefit of such things goes to the rightful owner.
The means of obtaining a copyright is many times not understood by the general public. Many believe that you need to register for a copyright, or at least publish the work. This used to be the case and both are very useful to the author, but neither is required. In fact to obtain a copyright a person simply needs to create a work. As author of a particular work, that person is automatically recognized as the copyright holder for that work. In cases of multiple authors there are also specifications. When the work is created by an employee the work is owned by the employer, not the employee. When there are two or more parties equally involved in the creation of a work, both or all parties become co-owners of the copyright, unless previously specified differently in writing and signed by both or all parties.
As before stated copyright registration is not required but can be of benefit to the author of a work for several reasons. The basic reason is that once a work is registered it provides public record that the copyright has been clamed and removes any public doubt as to whether or not there is a copyright on such document or not. Also, registration is required in order to suit in court for infringement of the copyright on your work. Another benefit to the author is that if a copyright is registered within 3 months of publication, statuary damages and attorney fees are available upon court action of infringement, where only actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner if this is not the case.
Any work that has been created on or after January 1, 1978 has a copyright that will last for as long as the author is alive and for seventy years after the author's death. If there are joint owners in the copyright then the copyright will be valid for the life of all owners and for seventy years after the death of the last surviving author. For any works that were made by hire or if the author is unknown for any reason the life of the copyright is 95 years after publication of the work or 120 years after registration of the copyright, in case of both which ever one comes sooner is applied. For any work that was created before January 1, 1978 but has not been published or registered, a law was made which registers all those works and they are valid for the life of the owner plus 70 years after death or the 95/120 year term, whichever is applicable. Many changes have been made for works that have been published or registered before January 1, 1978, but the copyrights for these works are currently valid for 95 years.
Although copyright laws are generally used for works such as books, plays, and songs etc. the same laws apply for use on the internet. A webpage on the internet has the same copyright laws as a book or any other document, these laws state that this information cannot be copied. However, to view a webpage you computer automatically copies the page and stores it in RAM. This is not considered to be an infringement of copyright laws because it is only stored there until your computer is shut off and it is basically understood by owners that that is what it takes for you to see their information. However if you print, save, or copy a page on the internet, this is an infringement of copyright laws. You cannot graphics or information from other sites and use it on your site without permission of the owner.
U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright Basics. February 19, 2005. http://www.copyright.gov/
What is Copyright Protection? February 19, 2005. http://www.whatiscopyright.org/
Standler, Ronald B. Some Observations on Copyright Law. February 19, 2005. http://www.rbs2.com/copyr.htm