Copyright and the Internet By James Rich
What is Copyright? Copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the author of an original work exclusive rights for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation. • Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and discrete and fixed in a medium. • Until 1978, you were required to register your work with the Library of Congress and to provide a copyright notice before your work was protected. After 1978 registration is no longer required. Your materials are copyrighted the instant the work becomes a tangible medium.
Rights of the Copyright holder • To produce copies or reproductions of the work and to sell those copies: (including electronic copies) • To create derivative works (works that adapt the original work) • To perform or display the work publicly (performance rights) • To sell or assign these rights to others • To transmit or display by radio or video (broadcasting rights)
Public Domain and Copyright
• This means that materials are openly available to everyone and not subject to copyright protection. Public domain often refers to software, but it can also refer more generally to any work of intellectual property.
Examples of Public Domain • All published works created before 1923 (The bible) • All unpublished works created before 1883 (Constitution) • All federally created documents unless otherwise specified. (pledge of allegiance)
Internet sites and Copyright What I can not do with internet information
* Copy internet material without getting permission(including images, writings and other materials) * Do anything I want with information I copy from the internet because the author put it there for me to use. * I can copy material of a website without getting permission because it is on the internet. * It’s okay to use copyrighted material on a personal website as long as there is no fee to visit the site.
Looking at example of Using Copyright material Purpose
Nature
Amount
Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable Small amount of Teaching, reading Factual, important information used to class, news to education with citation of reporting source Illegal Making money from your work without giving credit to the source of original information.
Illegal Using any of the following items from internet or book: Photos, artwork, plays,music
Effect Acceptable Work is not sold to others and original writer or artist is cited
Illegal Illegal Using the entire Making the full work without work available on citation. Using he web, selling the work as your original work own.
Consequences for breaking copyright Civil Law
Normally, if you are charged with breaking copyright laws, you will be sued for damages in civil court rather than having criminal charges brought against you.
Payment of damages to copyright owner If you break copyright you could be sued by the owner of the copyright and made to pay big $$$$ for damages to the owners copyritten information.
Jail time
If you break copyright laws it could be classified as a felony and you can spend time in jail or even prison.
Failing Grade If you break copyright laws you will receive a zero for the paper you turn in and could fail the class as well as receive disciplinary action from the office.