Copyright Protection What is...Copyright protection?

[LiveForHer 0]

The following quoted information is sourced from http://www.whatiscopyright.org/ and is thus recognised as copyright to that site. Going around in circles here ...

 

What is Copyright?

 

Copyright is a protection that covers published and unpublished literary, scientific and artistic works, whatever the form of expression, provided such works are fixed in a tangible or material form. This means that if you can see it, hear it and/or touch it - it may be protected. If it is an essay, if it is a play, if it is a song, if it is a funky original dance move, if it is a photograph, HTML coding or a computer graphic that can be set on paper, recorded on tape or saved to a hard drive, it may be protected. Copyright laws grant the creator the exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform and display the work publicly. Exclusive means only the creator of such work, not anybody who has access to it and decides to grab it.

When Does Copyright Protection Begin, And What Is Required?

 

Copyright protection begins when any of the above described work is actually created and fixed in a tangible form.

 

For example, my brother is a musician and he lives in the United States. When he writes new lyrics, he prints them out on paper, signs his name at the bottom with the Copyright Š symbol to show that he is the author, places it in an envelope and mails it to himself without opening it. His copyright begins at the moment he puts his idea in a tangible form by printing the lyrics out on paper. He creates proof when he mails it to himself - the postmark establishes the date of creation. He then registers his copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office which is a requirement in order to sue for monetary damages should a violation of his copyright arise. However, if somebody copies and redistributes his lyrics without permission before his copyright is registered, he still has the right to assert a copyright claim as the true author.

 

The above applies to digital art and graphics. Open a gif, jpg or png file that you created and look at the properties. It states the date that you saved it to your hard drive as the date of creation. If somebody copies a graphic from your web site I assure you that the date of creation on your copy of the file is earlier than the copy taken off your web site. If that still doesn't feel like enough proof for you, save everything to a floppy disk and mail it to yourself via certified mail. Keep the envelope sealed, wrap it in protective plastic and put it in a safe place.

 

Somebody once asked if it was "illegal" to place the copyright Š symbol next to your name if you have not registered your copyright. Unless you have stolen the work from somebody else and you are not the true author of the work, it is not illegal to place the copyright Š symbol next to your name - it is your right to do so.

 

The proper way to place a copyright notice is as follows: Copyright Š (first date of creation) (name of owner). Like this: Copyright Š 2003 John Smith.

When Does Copyright Protection End, Or Expire?

 

If a copyright statement reads, "Š Copyright 1998, 1999 John Smith." does that mean that John Smith's copyright expired in 1999? The dates that you see in a copyright statement do not refer to the dates that the owner's material will expire and become public domain - they actually refer to the dates that the material was created.

 

When you see several dates in a copyright statement, it simply means that certain things were created in one year and modified later. It could also mean that new things were created and added in a later year. It most definitely does not refer to the date that a copyright will expire. Expiration of a copyright actually takes place much later, and this period of validity begins from the date that you see in the copyright statement. The Berne Convention establishes a general and minimum period that lasts the life of the author and fifty years after his (or her) death. Cinematographic works and photographic works have a minimum period of protection of 50 and 25 years upon the date of creation, respectively. This applies to any country that has signed the Berne Convention, and these are just the minimum periods of protection. A member country is entitled to establish greater periods of protection, but never less than what has been established by the Berne Convention.

 

So, what does all this mean? This means that if a copyright statement reads, "Š Copyright 1998, 1999 John Smith" and John Smith is from a country that has signed the Berne Convention, he created his works in 1998 and 1999, and his copyright is not going to expire until at least fifty years after he dies (this period may be greater - remember that member countries may establish longer periods of protection). Until that time his works are not in public domain.

 

I have actually seen copyright statements with future dates, such as "Š Copyright 2003, 2004 John Smith", most likely because the copyright holder thought that they could establish an expiration date for the copyright. This is incorrect unless John Smith traveled to the future and created the work in question. These types of copyright statements also mislead others to believe that dates in a copyright statement refer to the date a copyright expire, when the date should really refer to the date of creation.

Best,

Xuan.

 

PS: As stated in the disclaimer and referral, visit WhatIsCopyright.Org for more information.

[tdktank59 0]

yeah thats how it works lol...but heres another wierd catch as well....with music lyrics and stuff and music you cna play other peoples music and stuff but you cannot make money off of it unless you give them royalties.... or something around those lines...but yeah i no this due to the fact that i play bass in my band and we right now are working on music but are playing some other music that isnt ours...

[Goosestaf 0]

That's really interesting ;)Cleared up alot of confusion and doubts i had.so, to copyright somethign all i have to do is say its copyrighted?how does TM and R work? (trade mark + Registered trade mark)

[DreamCore 0]

Nice, beacuse many pepole doesent understand that. And I dident realy knew why they putted 2004-2005. Thanks fopr the nice tutortial. Keep on...

[lacking_imagination 0]

I did a research report last year for english on copyright laws. I don't have the website off hand, but I remember it was somewhere in the library of congress... Anyways, it stated that even if you don't register your copyright, you can still take legal action against any infrungement. Registration is recommended, as it is possible to spoof other dates thereby making it harder to prove that you were the original author.also, about fansites, cover songs, etc... I believe that the original copyright holder also holds the copyright to derivative works. I'd have to look it up again... Also, the original copyright holder can request that the derivative works be taken down at any time if publicly posted.Everything else that has been stated was correct, I just thought I'd point out what the LoC had to say about it too ;)Also, still, despite all copyright laws, be cautious with your work. A very good artist on deviantART was having his work stolen and despite his copyrights he couldn't travel to take legal action (these overseas online companies were making thousands using his artwork for advertisement). He ended up just taking his whole gallery down. So still, be careful even if you do register.

[LeAnn Rimes My Angel 0]

Copyright protection means that something cannot be copied simply because it is registered by a company as being the owners of a particular image or logo. I think it applies mostly to products though, but I could be wrong.

[lacking_imagination 0]

Patents apply to products. Copyrights are assigned to tangable works, such as a recording, a video, a program, a book. I believe you can copyright a product, but the patent is what is needed legally there.

[xplicitpk 0]

i alway copyright my sites but i never sign up to the official site to do it lol its more of a for show thing really

[tdktank59 0]

i alway copyright my sites but i never sign up to the official site to do it lol

 

its more of a for show thing really

217377[/snapback]

lol nice

 

i do it because i have photos of friends and stuff...

 

if you put copyright respective owners then its almost impossible to bust your **bottom** unless the respective owner has asked you to remove them.

 

or at least thats what im thinking lol

 

anyways i hate copyrights and *BLEEP* but heh this is a sue happy world!

[Plenoptic 0]

Ya I put a copyright on there but I don't really want to spend $30 to copyright my site, especially since I edit it just about everyday Well thanks for sharing. Now I know not to steal anything even if it has an old copyright.

[musicmaza 0]

I read the copyright instructions.I need some help here.But suppose if I take the work from another site where there is no copyright symbol or the author himself has written that this site contains things which are already available on the net for free and thus we are not breaking any copyright laws ,then can I take that work

[jlhaslip 4]

Technically, No. The original author of the site continues to hold the copyright for their material subject to the terms of the Copyright Act where they wrote the page.Whether they would pursue you for any damages caused to them by your use of their material is another matter. Read the previous posting by Avalon.

[Liam_CF 0]

Do you have to pay to copyright something?

[musicmaza 0]

Technically, No. The original author of the site continues to hold the copyright for their material subject to the terms of the Copyright Act where they wrote the page.
Whether they would pursue you for any damages caused to them by your use of their material is another matter.

But that author himself has no copyright that means all his materials could be shared anywhere on the net.And also in the disclaimer there is a written information that anything available on this site is already available on the net for free,so I am copying from his site that is i think no wrong
Edited December 27, 2007 by musicmaza (see edit history)

[Acid 0]

Do you have to pay to copyright something?

I ask the same question - Do you have to pay?Otherwise, if I make a copyright on my websites, without paying anything, it is copyrighted?