Ꮺ What is Copyright Law?
➥ Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture.
➥ It does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed.
➥ Copyright laws grant exclusive rights to the creator of an original piece of work.
━━━━ Usually these rights are extended for a limited time.
Ꮺ What are the Rights Granted by Copyright Law?
➥ Technically, it is "the right to copy"your work.
➥ But also gives the copyright holder the right:
━━━━ To be credited for the work.
━━━━ To determine who may adapt the work to other forms.
━━━━ To decide who may perform the work.
━━━━ To decide who may financially benefit from it.
Ꮺ How Long Does a Copyright Last?
➥ For works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.
➥ For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire, the copyright endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.
Ꮺ Copyright Infringement
➥ If you use a copyrighted work without authorization, the owner may be entitled to bring an infringement action against you.
➥ Anyone found to have infringed a copyrighted work may be liable for statutory damages up to $30,000 for each work infringed and, if willful infringement is proven by the copyright owner, that amount may be increased up to $150,000 for each work infringed.
━━━━ In addition, an infringer of a work may also be liable for the attorney's fees incurred by the copyright owner to enforce his or her rights.
ᏪFair-Use Doctrine
➥Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work.
➥The reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair if it is used for:
━━━━ criticism
━━━━ comment
━━━━ news reporting
━━━━ teaching
━━━━ scholarship
━━━━ research
Ꮺ Determining Fair Use
➥ To determine fair use, consider the following:
━━━━ The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
━━━━ The nature of the copyrighted work.
━━━━ The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
━━━━ The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work
Ꮺ Public Domain
➥ Photos that are in the public domain are not protected by copyright laws and can be used without permission or the payment of fees.
➥ Images enter the public domain:
━━━━ After the copyright has expired,
━━━━ If the image is a work of the U.S. government,
━━━━ Or the copyright holder fails to satisfy copyright formalities.
Ꮺ How do I Copyright my Work?
➥ Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.
➥ Registration with the US Copyright Office is voluntary.
━━━━ However, you will have to register if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work.
━━━━ To register a work, submit a completed application form, a nonrefundable filing fee, and a nonreturnable copy or copies of the work to be registered.