What is Copyright

What is Copyright?

Introduction.

This page covers the basic definitions regarding copyrights. It has been written using the Berne Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property (Berne Convention) as the main bibliographical source, and does not refer to the laws of any country in particular. Therefore, comparing this document to the particular laws of your country may arise in discrepancies. However, copyright laws vary from country to country but as a rule do not contravene or provide less copyright protection than the Berne Convention, provided the country in question is a member thereof.

What is a 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Copyright is a protection that covers published and unpublished literary, scientific and artistic works, whatever the form of expression, provided such works are fixed in a tangible or material form.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. If you write a poem, your copyright over that poem begins as soon as you set it in tangible form by writing the poem down on paper. Your copyright does not begin when you register it. It began when you wrote the poem on paper. Registering a copyright is just taking the protection a step further so as to leave no room for doubt that one is the creator of a work. My brother is a poet and musician. When he writes a new lyric, he immediately prints it out on paper, signs his name at the bottom with the © symbol to establish himself as the author, places it in an envelope and mails it to himself without opening it. His copyright begins when he prints it out on paper and sets his lyric in a tangible form. He creates proof as soon as he mails it to himself - the postmark establishes the date of creation. He then registers his copyright to further establish himself as the author, and because he happens to live in the United States and that is required for him to be able to sue for monetary damages. However, if somebody copies his lyric without permission before his copyright is registered, he still has the right to assert his copyright claim. The same applies to digital art and graphics...open a gif or jpg 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. Still doesn't feel safe enough to you? How about saving everything to a floppy and mailing it to yourself via certified mail? Keep the envelope sealed, wrap it in protective plastic and stash it in a safe place.

Somebody once asked if it was "illegal" to place the copyright © 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 © symbol next to your name - it is your right to do so.

When does Copyright Protection end, or expire?

If a copyright statement reads, "© Copyright 1998, 1999 John Smith." does that mean that John Smith's copyright is going to expire 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 other things were created in another year. It most definitely does not refer to the period that a copyright is valid. 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 this mean? This means that if a copyright statement reads, "© 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 such time his works are not in public domain. I have actually seen copyright statements that read "© Copyright 2000, 2001 John Smith." This is incorrect unless John Smith traveled to the future and created the work in question. These incorrect statements lead others to believe the misconception that such dates refer to an expiration period, when they actually refer to the date of creation.

The Famous © Symbol.

Why does it say Copyright © 1996-2005 Limelight iMedia? Those are the dates that I became owner of the HTML coding, text, graphics and other material displayed on this web site and saved it to my hard drive. That entitles me to claim copyright. Only I, as the author and creator of this work, am entitled to use, reproduce and distribute this material unless someone else who wishes to use it obtains my prior written permission to use it as well, and only in the manner that I previously approve. What does this mean? That nobody may access my web site and copy my layout, text or graphics until I provide a written document that states, "Yes, you can use my work, but only in the manner that I deem appropriate." This especially goes for those who want to use my material for lucrative purposes. Would you let someone sell the apples that grow on the tree in your backyard without your permission, and particularly without getting some of the profit? Anybody who uses, copies or distributes my material in any manner, for commercial or personal purposes, without my written permission, would be committing an infringement of my copyright. If I, at any moment, detect a violation of my copyright by another individual or entity, I am entitled to assert a claim. It doesn't matter if you are a "newbie" - as the principle of law states: "Ignorance of the Law does not make one exempt from compliance thereof."

Copyrights and the Internet.

Public domain - not! When visiting a web site, it is so easy to click and save with a mouse button when one sees a graphic image that one likes, or to view the source code and copy part of or all of the HTML coding because one "likes the way this or that was done" or one "wants a similar layout", or to copy original writings because "that person expresses this or that so well". The general (and incorrect) notion is that anything that is on the internet is public domain and may be taken without permission from the creator/owner. Some people actually think (incorrectly) that just because bits of web pages may be stored in one's cache, or because certain browsers allow one to do "file save as" moves or anything similar one may use such material as you wish. These are false statements. Just because your backyard is not inside of your house, is it in the public domain? Does that give anybody off the street the right to step foot into your backyard without your permission, even if they can see it from the street, or easily access it? Well, the same applies to material published on the internet. Such material may be copied if - and only if - the information is created by the (i) federal government, (ii) if the copyright has expired or (iii) the copyright has been abandoned by the holder. Therefore, "internet" and "public domain" are not synonymous...any work published on the internet is not automatically placed it in the public domain, unless the material in question complies with one or more of the characteristics mentioned.

Material provided by others and used with permission. Midis, graphic images (including web graphics, photos, logos and other digital art), writings, text, HTML, javascripts or other material that you are given permission to use or display on your web site does not entitle you to claim copyright to the material in question. Permission to use someone else's material does not make you the rightful owner or holder. Therefore, the © symbol at the bottom of the web site only pertains to the content that you actually created, not to what was created by another and is being used with permission. Owner's terms may vary, but it is always best to include text on the same page where the material on loan is being used to specify who the real owner is, and that it is being used with permission. To an extent, this would protect you as well as the appropriate owner as it would be notifying the public that the material is owned by someone...if you failed to properly protect someone else's work that you are using and it turns out that someone else swiped it due to your misuse or negligence you may be subjecting yourself to a claim.

Hey - everyone knows that HTML coding cannot be copyrighted! Based upon what? HTML coding of a web page may be copyrighted if it was actually written and/or designed by the author and is fixed in a tangible medium by being saved to a hard drive. If you wanted, you could put your HTML into a text file and print it out, couldn't you? Doesn't that make it tangible - something you can read or look at? However, this only applies if one actually wrote the HTML coding and designed the web page layout by oneself (even if one uses an HTML editor)...if one copies and pastes HTML from one web page into another one may not claim copyright. It is not an original work, and may even be construed as copyright infringement. There is one thing that must be clarified, though. If you see a certain page layout and like the way it looks, you could "legally" reproduce something similar if you wrote the coding all by yourself. The actual intangible idea may not be copyrighted. What is copyrighted is the tangible medium...the written HTML coding that is saved to a hard drive. That means no copying and pasting. Still, be careful with this and don't think that you can start copying whatever web page ideas or layouts you want. There is a fine line between "legally copying" (for lack of a better word) and "copyright infringement".

Here is an example: If I have the "idea" to make a web page about roses, that idea cannot be copyrighted because an idea itself will always be intangible. What is copyrighted are the tangible works I produce of the idea. These would be the descriptions I write, my photos of roses, and the HTML coding I created to design the page layout - all saved in my computer's hard drive. All of that is my idea fixed in a tangible medium and that is protected by my copyright. However, somebody else could come along, learn of the idea I had to create a web page about roses, and create a web page about roses as well - provided such person wrote his/her OWN words, used his/her OWN photos, and wrote his/her OWN HTML coding to design the page. Further, if such person were "inspired" by my web page layout, and decided to do something similar (similar - not identical), he or she could do that if the HTML were written entirely by this person without any copying or pasting. All of that is legal (whether it is imaginative and creative, well, that is something else). Now, if this person came along, saw my web page on roses, liked the way I did it and then copied and pasted my HTML into his or her own web page without my permission, that is copyright infringement, even if he or she deleted certain things and inserted his or her OWN words and his or her OWN photos. Yes, even if he or she did NOT have a web page about roses, but about something entirely different. Why? Because my HTML is set in a fixed form, and the fixed form is what was copied without my permission.

What if I take someone else's writings, text, HTML or graphic image and change it around to suit my needs? I own the "new" version, right? If you did any of that with the original owner's permission, and according to his/her terms and conditions than you own the "new" version. If not you may be committing copyright infringement and/or plagiarism.

What if I translate your copyright page into another language? I bet I don't need your permission, and I own the "new" work! The Berne Convention reads, "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." That means that you need my permission to translate this page into another language. Also, there is not really a "new" work. You have merely translated an existing work into another language. You own the full copyright to the translation only, and even if you have my permission to translate it, you still need to credit me within the translation as author of the original work.

Direct Linking and Spider-Harvesting. Linking directly to another web site's images and/or spider-harvesting (robots programmed to index pages and pull images onto another server) is not only bandwidth theft, but may also be construed as copyright infringement. Why? The images that are directly linked are reproduced in the web site that is performing the direct linking and/or spider-harvesting as an unauthorized derivative work. In other words, anybody who links directly to files on my site is not only stealing my bandwidth, but is reproducing a part of this web site without my permission.

Fair Use. Fair use or fair practice is utilization of a portion of a copyrighted work "as is" for purposes of parody, news reporting, research and education about such copyrighted work without the permission of the author. Use of copyrighted works, or portions thereof, for any other purpose is not deemed fair use, so be careful! That includes copying text or scanning pictures from postcards, magazines, books or any other work. Scanning a photo of the Amazon Forest printed in National Geographic and using it without permission on your personal web site about your family trip to South America will most likely not be considered as fair use. However, if such photo is of the Amazon Forest and you use the photo in a web site dedicated to describing the crusade to save the Amazon Forest, this would most likely be considered as fair use. You still have to credit your source by naming the author of the work on the same page. In any event, it is always safer to take the time and effort to contact the owner and request permission to use the owner's work, and more likely than not the owner will be very appreciative and give you a favorable response.