Introduction To Copyright Protection What is...Copyright protection?

[rejected 0]

A post I made on aTrap17 that I thought you guys might want to learn about here..

I went and did a little research on copyright protection for you guys..
Copyright protection is a tangible material that is protected by a copyright. Anything can be copyrighted that you can view, hear, if it can be saved on your computer, or anything else that is a way of saving. Copyright Protection begins when something is created in tangible form. Once you have your material written down or saved somewhere, it is copyrighted, but you can't sue them unless you register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office. Even if your copyright isn't registered, you can still assert a copyright claim as the author.

When you see a "Š Copyright 2004, 2005 Chris Wilson", it doesn't mean that the copyright expires in 2005. What it means it that the material was created in 2004 and then edited in 2005. A copyright lasts until 50 years after the death of the original author.

Taking anyone's work from the internet is illegal! If you see a background that you like, or part of someone's source that you'd like to use, that's illegal! That material is copyrighted. There are three things that aren't illegal when taking things: if it has been created by the federal government, if the copyright has been abondoned by the holder, and if the copyright has expired.

If you have downloaded a free item from a website, you still have to comply with the owner's terms and or conditions. If it says that you must give them credit, you must give them credit, or else you're commiting copyright infringment. If the owner says you cannot edit it, you can't edit it legally.

You cannot take someone's work and translate it into a different language and then call it your own either.The Bern Convention says:
QUOTE
Authors of literary and artistic works protected by this Convention shall enjoy the exclusive right of making and of authorizing the translation of their works throughout the term of protection of their rights in the original works.
You have to have the author's permission to translate it into a different language.

I'd like to thank http://www.whatiscopyright.org/ for educating myself and others on the copyrighting experience. If I hadn't given credit to that website, I would be commiting plagarism from taking their ideas and paraphrasing them.

Copied from http://forums.xisto.com/topic/98432-topic/?findpost=1064415404 Enjoy
Edited July 5, 2005 by microscopic^earthling (see edit history)

[Neverseen 0]

you probably already know this little trick but i thought i'll make a contribution anyway since i found this out the hard way in the past.If you want to copy protect your own work, package it in a strong envelope and post it (recorded post preferbly) and post it to yourself.DO NOT open you package. just keep it safe....and away from prying ears.the reason for this is to stop people copying your work and selling it off as theres....this method WILL stand up in a court of justice because the package is dated and not opened. also it'll save you dollars/pounds in copyright fees....

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

Yup - what Neverseen said is perfectly correct. Infact, that's one of the best methods of settling copyright disputes - it's your best proof too. Nothing can beat this down if you have this envelope on you...Also - to add some more spice to it, you could request the postmaster at your post office to TIME-DATE STAMP all the pages of your material as well as EMBOSS them with the POSTAGE INSIGNIA before packing it all up in the envelope. That stands up as the ultimate proof - of course for this you've to incurr some extra expenses.. but it's worth way more than later crying on spilt milk.Regards,m^eP.S. - Thanks for that bit of info Rejected .. yah, I was indeed in doubt about the Copyright 2004-2005 part.. I always used to think if copyright expires in such short terms, then how the hell do you retain it for much longer periods !!

[vizskywalker 0]

Just because the author of some content has been dead for 50 years, don't assume that the content is not covered by copyight. The ability to copyright a document can be passed on through a will, and many times if the content was pulished with a company that company may hold a copyright on it.~Viz

[Soleq 0]

This is a pretty complete explaination of copyrighted material, but I'll drop my 2 cents also into the bucket. First off, registering a copyright isn't that expensive, and you can add as many items as you want under the flat rate fee (something like $25 I believe). While I've never personally registered my works as copyrighted, I know that you can submit material in virtually any mailable form: photo, CD, tape, DVD, print sheet, etc. Basically, with such a low fee for protection, I don't see any reason why not to register your materials that you think may bring trouble ahead.

 

Now, for the kicker, if you register your copyright, you are eligible for far greater compensation against copyright infringers than if you simply use a postmarked pouch. I'm not quite sure of the difference, but it's in the thousands of dollars. Just a little thing to think about.

 

Unfortunately, copyright and the internet don't really go well hand in hand. Pretty much anything you make available online is subject to being "stolen" and used by other people. That's why many pro photographers I know refuse to place their portfolio online. The best method to combat this is to basically assume people will copy your stuff onto their computer and try to use it. Make your images small (but large enough to see) or your audio at a low-sample rate (but still understandable). That way people will still be inclined to purchase the full version. Now, if someone's trying to pass of your work as his, then that's a different story, and unfortunately, it's rather hard to persue.

[shadowatasta 0]

Being an avid amateur photographer, I have thousands of photos both from film and digital cameras. Currently, I have put some of my photos on my homepage (ISP's server) but I have not thought much about copyrighting since they're only photos, although the content is original. But I'm not really worried since the only visitors that I have are my friends and I have not put it on any search engines. In my country, this "copyright protection" issue has finally hit home. There's a law, effective from Jan 2005, that prohibits the distribution of illegally copyrighted material in any form (including those on the web). Recently, 3 local men were caught violating this law (it was in the news) and they'll probably be fined and jailed.I find that I'm more paranoid now, even though I alway stay clear of putting up copyrighted material on the web. For written words, pictures/photos and videos, it's straight-forward but for music, I find that it's more complicated. (In my opinion) Not all songs/music are copyrighted eg, classical music by the great masters (Bach, Mozart. Beethoven, etc). Their music were written hundreds of years ago and they're already dead. Of course, recordings made by groups/choirs/orchestras may be.As you can see, I'm a little muddled when it comes to music and copyright. If a personal video recording contains background music as played from a stereo, is it illegal? This question has been bothering me for some time.

[AbyssalStalker 0]

I think that as long as you ask the rights for background music, videos, trademarks, logos etc. You should be fine. When you do it without asking, I believe it could be illegal. On the other hand, if you don't ask you could also be advertising their prodcut. It is a much debated topic.

[Nybb 0]

A copyright lasts until 50 years after the death of the original author.

Actually, a copyrighted work lasts 70 years after the author's death. By 70 years, the copyrighted work becomes public domain, free to use as is.

 

First off, registering a copyright isn't that expensive, and you can add as many items as you want under the flat rate fee (something like $25 I believe).

No, it's $30 as of now. Mail your work with $30 to the Library of Congress and they'll make your work copyrighted.

 

Now, for the kicker, if you register your copyright, you are eligible for far greater compensation against copyright infringers than if you simply use a postmarked pouch.

In fact, if your copyrighted work got stolen, you could sue.

 

Pretty much anything you make available online is subject to being "stolen" and used by other people.

It's called "ripping." Honestly, some people who don't feel like copyrighting their work just slaps down a phony copyright just so people will think twice before doing anything. They're all lies, LIES!! Well, at least most of them are.

 

Not all songs/music are copywrited eg, classical music by the great masters (Bach, Mozart. Beethoven, etc).

Their works are public domain, which means you can use them, provided you give them credit.

 

If a personal video recording contains background music as played from a stereo, is it illegal?

If it's by the works of the old, dead composers (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc.) it isn't illegal because it's public domain. (That's why you hear a lot of classical music in movies, IS FREE!) But if it's from a punk rock band (much of which you can find on the radio), you have to bribe them by shoving stacks of cash onto their faces and they'll write on paper that you can use their music for your work.

 

I hope my information has helped mend the confusion. If not, visit

 

http://www.copyright.gov/

[shadowatasta 0]

Thanks for the link, Nybb. But, it doesn't answer my question about music in the background during recording eg. at parties, where there are other sounds like people having conversations. Could someone enlighten me on this? Thanks.

[Nybb 0]

If it's by the works of the old, dead composers (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc.) it isn't illegal because it's public domain. (That's why you hear a lot of classical music in movies, IS FREE!) But if it's from a punk rock band (much of which you can find on the radio), you have to bribe them by shoving stacks of cash onto their faces and they'll write on paper that you can use their music for your work.

Your question has been answered. This includes background music on recordings.
I find it interesting that everything has to be on paper. To me, that means words don't matter; if you wrote it you have a documented contract that can be shoved to your face. My mom uses this method when making deals with me...

[AbyssalStalker 0]

That's the funniest picture i've ever seen about the GAP pants. Oh it made me laugh

[setsunamudo 0]

Actually it needs lots of money to have copy right. Because if you have your material copyrighted in US it will not be available in Turkey or Japan. You need to register it to all the contry's offices that you will share your material in.

[AbyssalStalker 0]

Wow that must suck, having to talk to differnt nations just to sell of a product worldwide heh.

[KnightEagle 0]

Strange as this can sound I dont agree with some copy right laws say a photgrapher takes a picture of a tree with a name on it. Days pass and someone else takes a picture of the same tree. Now you saying the first owns the rights to take the picture and sells it as his when did he have permission to take the picture from the owner of the tree? You can only write code so many ways before you start looking like everyone else. And backgrounds come into light who reall owns that background you reall like seeing on joes page did joe make it or did joe take it from sams page or was it given to him. even if you ask joe for permission does he own the rights to it???

[stusrud 0]

Copyright protection, I agrre, it takes alot of money, but hopefully you make more money off the thing you are copyrighting than how much it costs you to actually copyright it. Also, everywhere on the net I see people put Copyright to whoever, is it alright to do that, I mean, it isn't legally copyrighted, but it is the respected owner's material of that website, so I guess in a way, it is alright, correct me if I'm wrong.