What Is Fair Use Copyright Law?
What Is Fair Use Copyright Law?
Many people are interested in the Fair Use copyright law. The Fair Use copyright law enables people to use portions of material that is copyrighted for the purposes of criticism or as commentary. The hard part for many people is understanding what is permissible under the Fair Use copyright law and what is not permissible. Anyone who writes or publishes should brush up on what is allowed and what is not allowed. Using another person’s words to make news reports, to use as a comment or criticism or to use for research, scholarship, or for educational uses that are nonprofit are generally considered Fair Use. In these instances, the Fair Use copyright law allows one person or author to make use of another person or author’s work without asking permission to do so. In situations that do not fall within these specifications, you are probably violating someone’s copyright if you use their work – especially if you are using another person’s work for economic or commercial gain.
When you are trying to see if you can use another’s words, you should keep a few things in mind. The answer to the following questions will help you gage whether you would be violating a copyright.
First, are you transforming someone else’s work or are you copying it?
Second, are you making any financial gains from your work that would compete with the original copyright holder?
Third, do you have the author’s permission to quote their work? Just because you list the author and give credit to him or her does not protect you from infringing upon someone’s copyright.
Fourth, how much of the original author’s work are you using? If you are using a substantial amount of another’s work, you are probably in direct violation of their copyright.
Many publishing companies have set rules on how much material they will allow to be quoted in other sources. Some of these ranges start at 100 words or less. However, there are truly no standards to go by, so be careful. You can not assume that keeping your copying fewer than 50 words will allow you to pass under the radar – especially if the original piece is hovering around 125 words itself!
Lastly, what portion of another’s work are you using? If it is the meat of the book and the most important part of the book, you are probably in direct violation of the owner’s copyright.
With a little common sense it is not hard to decide if you are violating someone’s copyright. People who are truly interested in staying within the guidelines of the Fair Use copyright law usually do a good job of doing so. Many people push the Fair Use copyright law right up to the line, while others will blatantly cross over it without giving a second thought to the repercussions. When these people are summoned to court to answer for their vagrant disregard for the property and copyright of another, they are usually sorry. Sorry they got caught! It is very important that people who take advantage of the Fair Use copyright law are held accountable for their actions. Without accountability many more people would follow in their footsteps and use other creators’ works as their own.
Brian Scott is a freelance journalist who covers copyright law for www.ResearchCopyright.com.
Copyright applied to Music, Computers; Napster(r); Peer-to-Peer File Sharing View the complete course: ocw.mit.edu License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA More information at ocw.mit.edu More courses at ocw.mit.edu
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What Is U.S. Copyright Law?
What Is U.S. Copyright Law?
The US Copyright Law grants rights to individuals for the works they create. The US Copyright Act of 1790 has changed over the years. The current basis of US copyright law is based on the Copyright Act of 1976. US copyright law is relatively automatic. Once someone has an idea and produces it in tangible form, the creator is the copyright holder and has the authority to enforce his exclusivity to it. In other words, the person is the owner of the creation. It is not necessary that a person register their work. However, it is recommended and it can serve as evidence if someone ever violates a copyright. It is interesting to note that when an employer hires an employee to produce a work that the copyright is given to the employer.
Violations of US Copyright Law are generally enforced in a civil court setting. However, there could also be criminal sanctions brought against someone who violates US copyright law. Someone in serious violation of US Copyright Law, such as counterfeiting, can find themselves on the inside of prison looking out. People need to understand the copyright symbol is not a requirement. Someone may have a copyright, yet their work may not have a copyright notice or symbol.
US Copyright Law covers a wide range of things that are derived from artistic expression, intellectual or creative work. This includes things such as literary works, music, drawings, photographs, software, movies, choreographic works such as ballets and plays, poems, paintings and more. The law covers the form of expression, not the concept, facts or the actual idea of the work. This means that someone can use another person’s idea or concept and produce their own take on it. However, copying another person’s work is a violation. some things may not be copyrighted but they may be protected by a patent or trademark.
Individuals who have a copyright on a particular piece of work can do with it what they will. They may choose to copy it and sell it. They may display their work or perform it in public and charge admission, or they can assign or sell the work to someone else. Individuals who have a copyright can also choose to do nothing with their work, if that is their desire. However, if someone comes along and takes the work and tries to use it in some way, that person is still in violation of the owner’s copyright. Copyrights cover published and unpublished work.
Anyone who is in the creative arts arena should be very careful that they do not violate US Copyright Law. For that matter, anyone who is a fan of the creative arts should make sure they are not in violation of a copyright. Simple things like uploading, downloading and sharing music or movie files can result in serious charges and fines being brought against them. The popularity of the Internet and file sharing software has increased copyright violations. Copyright owners are starting to take a stand against copyright violators and are hunting down the perpetrators. Be careful you are not overstepping your boundaries and violating someone’s copyright law.
Brian Scott is a freelance journalist who covers copyright law for www.ResearchCopyright.com.
In June 2008, the Canadian government introduced Bill C-61, new copyright legislation that closely followed the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The public response to the bill was both immediate and angry – tens of thousands of Canadians wrote to the Minister and their local Members of Parliament, leading to town hall meetings, negative press coverage, and the growing realization that copyright was fast becoming a mainstream political and policy issue. This film, produced by Michael Geist and Daniel Albahary, asks Canadians from across the country and from a wide range of sectors the question – “why copyright?”
Video Rating: 4 / 5
What Is Music Copyright Law?
What Is Music Copyright Law?
With the popularity of the Internet, many people are violating music copyright law and do not even know it. Music copyright law can be very tricky. There are multiple music copyrights that you must keep in mind – lyrics, composition and the recording of the music by an artist. Using someone’s music may involve you acquiring many different licenses such as mechanical, synchronization, performance and publishing licenses.
Music copyright law has separate copyrights for the vocal or instrumental recordings of a composition or performance and the copyright of the written lyrics and music. Standard music copyrighting practices usually entail that the writer of the song retains the rights to the right to the music composition which the studio that did the recording of the music holds the rights of the recording. Music copyright law can get very complicated. It can involve negotiations with the writers, producers, agents, heirs and more.
Many artists and studios are upset with the decline in music sales. They are attributing this decline to people who are violating copyright laws by downloading music on the Internet. Music files are under the same copyright law as music recordings and the owners of these copyrights are entitled to royalties or compensation for the music that people are illegally downloading on the Internet.
The simple fact is you are stealing if you make copies of copyrighted music recordings without authorization. If people were sued for the music they have downloaded illegally, it could result in thousands of dollars. Music copyright law states that it is illegal to duplicate and distribute creative work. If you send someone an email with a song that you have illegally downloaded on the Internet, you could be in for some serious trouble. To put it bluntly and plainly, if you download (or upload) music that is copyrighted without permission, you are breaking the law.
Many people violate music copyright law and do not even understand how their actions are criminal. If you purchase a music CD you can make a copy of it for yourself on your MP3. However, if you then use that recording and put it on your website or blog and make it available for everyone to download, you are performing an illegal act. Even if you join a site and pay a fee to download music, you are in violation of music copyright law.
This may sound like something that would never come back to haunt you. After all, if you were caught, it would be a first time offense, right? Well, you should know that there have been first time offenders who have been fined up to 0,000 and up to five years in jail for violating music copyright law. It is so much easier to go out and pay 20 bucks for a CD.
Whether you are uploading music or downloading music, educate yourself on music copyright law. No one wants to ruin their financial future and face jail time. Enjoy music, just do it the right way!
Brian Scott is a freelance journalist who covers copyright law for www.ResearchCopyright.com
Complete video at: fora.tv Shepard Fairey, Steven Johnson, and Lawrence Lessig weigh the pros and cons of artistic freedom, fair use, and copyright law. —– What is the future for art and ideas in an age when practically anything can be copied, pasted, downloaded, sampled, and re-imagined? LIVE from the NYPL and WIRED Magazine kick off the Spring 2009 season with a spirited discussion of the emerging remix culture. Our guides through this new world–who will take us from Jefferson’s Bible to Andre the Giant to Wikipedia–will be Lawrence Lessig, author of Remix, founder of Creative Commons, and one of the leading legal scholars on intellectual property issues in the Internet age; acclaimed street artist Shepard Fairey, whose iconic Obama “HOPE” poster was recently acquired by the National Portrait Gallery; and cultural historian Steven Johnson, whose new book, The Invention of Air, argues that remix culture has deep roots in the Enlightenment and among the American founding fathers. Shepard Fairey shot to national fame as the graphic artist behind a 2008 iconic poster of Barack Obama, a portrait labeled simply “HOPE” and in a style that could be described as Andy Warhol meets Socialist Realism. Fairey, who graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1992, was already well known among graffiti artists and fans, thanks to one of Fairey’s early works of “guerilla” art, an impromptu stencil design based on an ad for Andre the Giant, a professional wrestler. Lawrence …
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