The right to duplicate things.
protection that covers published and unpublished works of literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, pictorial and certain other intellectual creation, provided such work are fixed in a tangible medium. These include broadcasts, programmes and films
copyright is a property right of your original work.
not considered original if it is a copy of someone else's work or infringes copyright of someone else's work
if you can see, hear or touch it, it may be protected. An essay, play, song, photograph, html coding, it's protected
Why have copyright?
copyright laws grant the creator or owner of copyright exclusive right to copy work, issue work to public by sale or otherwise, perform or play or show work in public, broadcast the work, make an adaptation of the work, to do any of the above to an adaptation, authorise another person to do any of the above.
who owns the copyright?
The author or creator of a work is the first owner of any copyright in the work UNLESS:
you are an employee who in the course of his or her employment creates a work then the person's employer is the first owner.
You are commissioned to create a work. Then the person who commissioned you is the first owner.
You (as the creator or Author) agree that someone else is to own any copyright in your work, even before it is created, then that person is the first owner of copyright in the work.
You can't copyright an IDEA, but the physical embodiment of that idea can be copyrighted.
For example, a joke. A short contained story with a punchline. can it be copyrighted? If it's been published in a book or recorded, yes. but it's a grey area.
You can get around these sometimes harsh exceptions by agreeing with the other party involved who is to own the copyright. get a record of your agreement in writing. voice over actors, etc.
Copyright is a form of property and it can be sold. While you may be the first owner of copyright, there may be any number of subsequent owners.
when does copyright protection begin? It begins when any 'work' is first created and fixed in a tangible form.
don't talk about idea, get it down on paper. It doesn't have to be officially registered to be copyrighted.
The proper way to place copyright notice is as follows:
copyright (symbol) (first date of creation) (name of owner)
copyright (c) 2015 John Smith
copyright (c) 2014, 2015 John smith means parts were created in different years
no international copyrights that you can register to protect work throughout the world.
Berne Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property and UCC
- works of an author who is a national or resident of a country that is a member of these treaties
- works first published ina country that is a member of these tries
- works published within 30 days of first publication in a Berne Union country
Copyright lasts for the life of the author and then 50 years after their death.
cinematographic works and photographic works have a minimum period of protection of 50 and 25 years upon the date of creation, respectively
this appplies to any country that has signed the Berne convention and these are minimum periods of protection. A member country can establish greater periods of protection, but never less than what has been established by the Berne Convention.
50 years after the author's death, the works go into Public Domain.
When does copyright end?\
sound recordings, films an broadcasts: copyright in a sound recording or film expires-
at the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work is made; or
if it is made available to the public by an authorised act before the end of that period, 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which it is so made available, whichever is the later.
Sound recording or film is made available to the public when the work is first published or broadcast or included in a cable programme service. In the case of a film or film sound track when the work is first shown or played in public.
Infringement:
copy the work
issue copies of the work to the public
perform in public or play or show a film,broadcast, cable programme or sound recording in public
broadcast (or include in a cable programme_ a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, or a sound recording or film, or another broadcast or cable programme.
adapt a literary dramatic or music work
in addition you cannot do the following
import infringing copy
possess or deal with infringing copy
Copyright Exceptions:
Fair use is use of an excerpt of a copyrighted work "as is" and used for purposes of parody, news reporting, research and education. copyrighted work is used without the permission of the author. In these incidents the use of such work should be accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement.
Parody is not protected under New Zealand law.
Incidental copying is where a piece of work forms part of hte background of a piece where there was no intention to do so by the copier. eg. a news reporter stands outside a shop and a song is playing in the background. The song is not the focus and is therefore incidental.
Performer's Rights
Remember performer/actor rights as well. Generally the same rules apply ie. written consent to reproduce their likeness/voice, etc. except in case of Fair use or incidental copying.
If you are unsure as to whether you are infringing copy right or a performer's rights it is always safer to take the time and effort to acquire written permission.
What can happen if you infringe copyright?
Where someone else has no rights in your work but goes ahead and ingringes, what can be done?
- monetary damages
- an injunction to prohibit further infringement
- the delivery of infringing articles to you
- the disposal of infringing articles
- forced recall of items
copyright infringement
- the defendant had knowledge that they were infringing the copyright of your work
- flagrancy of the infringement
- any benefit/s accruing to the defendant by reason of the infringement.
Tutorial assignment due next Tuesday:
find at least 5 examples of 'parody'
creators of parody may be faced with questions of copyright infringement. make notes to explain your viewpoint with regard to each example. Also look for Examples where someone has made a complaint against the parody.
Have these ready for the next class in powerpoint for discussion.
Wanna-ben, R.Crumb and Disney, Weird Al Yankovic,
No comments:
Post a Comment