What is copyright? Copyright is the protection
provided by United States Laws (and many foreign and international
laws) giving certain exclusive rights to the author of what
is defined as "original works of authorship."
Copyright laws permit the owner of a copyright to sue and
receive remedies when any other party infringes upon the
exclusive rights of the copyright owner.
Copyright Law Legal Speak
Copyright protection is available to protect
physical embodiment of certain creative or artistic works.
Copyright attaches upon fixation of the creative work by
the author in a "tangible medium of expression,"
from which the work can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise
communicated, directly or indirectly, or with the aid of
a machine or device. 17 USCA Section 102(a)
The copyright laws list the specific types
of works that are protected under the copyright laws (defined
as "works of authorship") to include the following:
(1) literary works, (2) musical works including accompanying
words, (3) dramatic works including accompanying music,
(4) pantomimes and choreographic works, (5) pictorial, graphic,
and sculptural works, (6) motion pictures and audiovisual
works, (7) sound recordings, and (8) architectural works.
Copyright protections does not extend to
ideas, procedures,processes, systems, methods of operation,
concepts, principles,discoveries, regardless of the form
in which they may be described, explained, illustrated,
or embodied. 17 USCA Section 102(b). Ideas, concepts and
the like may be protected under other laws, such as confidentiality,
trade secret, patent, etc. However, copyright protection
does not cover these items.
Copyright Law Non-Legal Speak
So what does all of this mean? Basically,
when you originally create one of the types of works listed
above, and you embody that work in some form, it is protected
under the copyright laws. If you write original lyrics to
a song, they are protected when your write them down. If
you paint a picture, it is protected when you set brush
to canvas. This article is protected as I am sitting watching
election returns and typing it. Text on your web site is
protected from the time you first write it down or type
it in. Graphics that you originally create are protected
as you create them in photocopy or whatever other program
you use. As long as the work is an original creation and
is fixed in some medium through which it can be perceived,
with or without the aid of a machine or device (a web browser,
a CD or DVD player, a film projector), the work is protected
under the Copyright Act.
On the other hand, your ideas regarding
a cool web site design or graphic that are floating around
in your head are not protected by the Copyright Laws. So
if you describe this idea to someone else and they beat
you to the punch and create it, you cannot use the copyright
laws to stop them from using it. Now you might have other
recourse under other laws. For example, you might have a
confidentiality agreement with them that protects your ideas
that you communicate to them. But the copyright laws will
not provide a remedy for you.
One important point needs to be made to
clarify a very common misconception about copyright protection.
Rights under the copyright laws do not arise when you file
a registration with the copyright office. Rights arise hen
they are fixed in a tangible medium of expression. There
are very good reasons why you want to register your works
with the copyright office. But registration is not a threshold
for protection. Remember, it is fixation not registration
from which copyrights arise.
Other related topics
[Copyright
Myths] [Reasons
For Registering A Copyright] [Copyright
Notice]
