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You are here: Home > Law > Copyrights CopyrightsWhen you develop a Web site, or access the Internet, you are dealing with lots of multimedia intellectual property rights. This area is the least understood of all intellectual property rights, although it is incredibly broad and impacts our lives everyday. Let's start by defining the term: The U.S. Copyright Act protects "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression." This protection doesn't extend to "ideas" or facts contained in a work, but only to the "expression" of ideas or facts contained in the work. Copyright law protects original "works of authorship." Music, text, graphics, illustrations, photographs, designs, multimedia content and software are all covered by copyright law. Works that are protected by copyright include the following seven general categories: (1) literary works; (2) musical works; (3) dramatic works; (4) choreographic works; (5) pictorial, graphic and sculptural works; (6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works; and (7) sound recordings. Only original works of authorship can be copyrighted. The copyright laws protect original creations. It is often said that they do not protect ideas (a story about two teenagers from feuding families who fall in love) but the way the ideas are expressed (Shakespeare's actual words from Romeo and Juliet, or Sondheim's lyrics to West Side Story). There are time limits -- for example, Shakespeare's work cannot be copyrighted because it has been out in the public for too long. Copyright protects authors from anyone copying their work without their permission. The copyright laws have changed over time. For works created before 1978, copyright protection usually lasted 28 years, and it could be renewed for another 28 years. If it was not renewed, then it lapsed, and anyone could copy it. Now, the copyright for most creations is "life plus 50 years", although it is a straight 75 years if the author of the work is not a real person but a company [work made for hire, anonymous, pseudonymous]. Under old law, a author could lose the protection of the copyright laws if his creation was published without a © and/or actual registration with the Copyright Office. Now, the authors of original works have greater protection. Even if the work is not registered, and even if there is no © symbol on the copies published, an author can still take measures to stop unauthorized copying. |
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