COPYRIGHT

 COPYRIGHT

Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution, usually for a limited time. The exclusive rights are not absolute; they are limited by limitations and exceptions to copyright law, including fair use.

 Copyright is a form of intellectual property, applicable to any expressed representation of a creative work. It is often shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders.^[1] These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, and "moral rights" such as attribution.^[2]

Copyrights are territorial, which means that they do not extend beyond the territory of a specific state unless that state is a party to an international agreement. While many aspects of national copyright laws have been standardized through international copyright agreements, copyright laws of most countries have some unique features.^[3]

Typically, the duration of copyright is the author's life plus 50 to 100 years (that is, copyright typically expires 50 to 100 years after the author dies, depending on the country). Some countries require certain copyright formalities to establishing copyright, but most recognize copyright in any completed work, without formal registration. Generally, copyright is enforced as a civil matter, though some jurisdictions do apply criminal sanctions.

HISTORY

Copyright came about with the invention of the printing press and with wider literacy. As a legal concept, its origins in Britain were from a reaction to printers' monopolies at the beginning of the 18th century. Charles II of England was concerned by the unregulated copying of books and passed the Licensing of the Press Act 1662 by Act of Parliament,^[5] which established a register of licensed books and required a copy to be deposited with the Stationers' Company, essentially continuing the licensing of material that had long been in effect.

The Statute of Anne came into force in 1710.

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The Copyright Act of 1790 in the Columbian Centinel.

Cost of enforcing copyright

In most jurisdictions the copyright holder must bear the cost of enforcing copyright. This will usually involve engaging legal representation, administrative and or court costs. These costs, including time, should be taken into consideration when evaluating the benefits of enforcing copyright. In light of this, many copyright disputes are settled by a direct approach to the infringing party in order to settle the dispute out of court.

A copyright symbol used in copyright notice.

Copyright notices in the United States[edit]

Before 1989, the use of a copyright notice – consisting of the copyright symbol (©, the letter C inside a circle), the abbreviation "Copr.", or the word "Copyright", followed by the year of the first publication of the work and the name of the copyright holder – was part of U. S. statutory requirements.^[24][25] Several years may be noted if the work has gone through substantial revisions. The proper copyright notice for sound recordings of musical or other audio works is a sound recording copyright symbol (℗, the letter P inside a circle), which indicates a sound recording copyright, with the letter P indicating a "phonorecord". Similarly, the phrase All rights reserved was once required to assert copyright.

"Poor man's copyright"

 

A widely circulated strategy to avoid the cost of copyright registration is referred to as the "poor man's copyright". It proposes that the creator send the work to himself in a sealed envelope by registered mail, using the postmark to establish the date. This technique has not been recognized in any published opinions of the United States courts.

The United States Copyright Office makes it clear that the technique is no substitute for actual registration.^[28] The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office discusses the technique and notes that the technique (as well as commercial registries) does not constitute dispositive proof that the work is original nor who the creator of the work is.

REFRENCES:

1.      Copyright, University of California, 2014, retrieved 2014-12-15

2.      17 U.S.C. § 106, United States of America, 2011, retrieved 2014-12-15

3.      "International Copyright Law Survey". Mincov Law Corporation.

4.      Boyle, James (1996). Shamans, Software and Spleens: Law and the Construction of the Information Society. Harvard University Press. p. 142. ISBN 0-674-80522-4.

5.      Copyright in Historical Perspective, p. 136-137, Patterson, 1968, Vanderbilt Univ. Press