Source: http://blogs.acu.edu/commlaw/2009/01/10/intellectual-property/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 11:13:30+00:00

Document:
Copyright: Original work of authorship in a tangible medium.
Misappropriation (or Unfair Competition): Use of news from other media without independently investing resources.
Patents: Machines, processes, designs of products, plants.
Piracy: Copyrighted material against criminal duplication and sale.
Plagiarism: Your ideas, thoughts, words from use by someone as his or her own.
Publicity Right: Performer’s entire act or performer’s uniquely created persona.
Trademarks: Words, symbols or devices that identify goods or services.
Service Marks: Identity of services instead of goods.
Certification: Marks	Certification of goods or services that meet a certain standard, e.g. Dolby.
Collective Marks: Denotation of members of a specific organization, e.g., NRA.
What is the history of the copyright concept?
5. The first English copyright law was enacted in 1709.
6. “Congress shall have the power … to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” – U.S. Constitution, Article 1, §8.
7. U.S. laws were enacted in 1790, 1831, 1909 and 1976.
8. U.S. signed Universal Copyright Convention in 1955.
What are the steps of protecting an original work?
1. Create a work in a tangible medium (at this point common and statutory protection accrues to creator of work).
2. Affix to the work in location that gives “reasonable notice of claim of copyright” (Copyright © John Doe, 1996).
3. Secure a registration form from the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.
4. Send two copies of published work, or one copy if unpublished, with proper form and fee to the Copyright Office.
1. Works not in a tangible medium.
2. Titles, names, phrases, slogans, symbols, dingbats, etc.
3. Ideas, procedures, systems, processes, concepts, etc.
4. Works comprising information that is common property.
5. Facts, including news facts.
What are the classes of copyrightable material?
2. Musical works, including accompanying words.
3. Dramatic works, including accompanying music.
4. Pantomimes and choreographic works in script form.
5. Pictorial, graphic and sculptural works.
6. Motion pictures and other audiovisual works.
How long are copyrighted works protected?
1. Old system (before 1/1/78): 28 years + 28-year renewal.
2. New system (after 1/1/78): life of creator + 70 years.
3. Combined (created before 1/1/78): 28 + 67 = 95 years.
4. Anonymous or for hire: 95 years from date of creation.
5. Works pass into the public domain or common ownership after period of protection ends to be used by anyone.
6. Versions of public domain works can be copyrighted, but protection extends only to unique portions of new work such as introductions, analyses, notes, commentary, etc.
What is permitted by the Fair Usage Doctrine?
1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial or nonprofit educational use.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relationship to the work as a whole.
How does a plaintiff prove infringement in court?
1. Originality of work the plaintiff is seeking to protect.
2. Proof of access to original work by the alleged infringer.
3. Substantial similarity between the compared works.
What are the remedies for copyright infringement?
2. Impoundment – and possible destruction.
3. Recovery of actual damages.
4. Minimum-maximum statutory damages are $250-$10,000, or up to $50,000 if willful infringement proved.
5. Costs and fees may be awarded to prevailing party.
6. §506 permits up to $50,000 fines and two years in prison.
7. §506 permits $2,500 fine for fraudulent placement of a copyright notice on a work.
What is unfair competition or misappropriation?
1. News facts are not copyrightable, but news is considered quasi-property under unfair use concept.
2. Costs of reporting gives news medium inherent rights; once transmitted it isn’t only in public domain (INS v. AP).
3. “Bodily appropriation of a statement of fact or a news article with or without rewriting, but without independent investigation or expense” is unfair use (Pottstown).
4. Injunctive relief is available.
What do the leading copyright cases mean?
1. Abstracted copyrighted research reports were “substantial in quality, and … quantity,” not fair use (Wainwright, 1977).
2. Off-air videotaping for private, home use is “ time shifting” and fair usage (Universal Studios Inc. v. Sony, 1984).
3. Excerpts from nonfiction work were substantial and unique, hence not fair usage (Harper & Row v. Nation, 1985).
4. Extensive taking of facts from unpublished letters for historical work is unfair usage (Salinger v. Random House Inc., 1987). Copyright §107 was amended in 1992 to say the “unpublished factor” cannot alone create unfair usage.
5. Works-for-hire doctrine – the copyright belongs to the employer – does not extend to works done under independent contract (Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 1989).
6. Facts in phone directories can not be protected under copyright or unfair competition (Feist v. Rural Telephone, 1991).
7. Unlicensed rentals of videotapes to motel residents is not protected fair usage (Prof. Real Estate v. Columbia Pictures, 1993).
9. A menu command hierarchy is not copyrightable (Lotus Development Corp. v. Borland International Corp., 1996).
10. Wal-Mart v. Samara Brothers (2000) dealt with trade dress of goods sold by retailers.
11. New York Times v. Tasini (2001) teaches that freelancers retain secondary rights to royalties for Web postings.
12. Eldred v. Ashcroft (2001) tested a copyright amendment that added 20 years of protection.
3. Next, in protection are “descriptive” marks that merely describe or characterize a product or its functions, e.g., geographic terms or surnames. When these names acquire “secondary meaning,” they can enjoy strong protection.
4. The weakest protection is offered to “generic” marks, e.g., “The Shop,” which usually offer no protection.
5. Search for duplication is advised before use begins.
6. Register your trademark with the appropriate governmental agency. Under federal law, register a trademark if you are using it, or intend to use it. In the latter case, application must note a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce.
7. Application is published in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Official Gazette.
8. If no “Notice of Opposition” is received about an application, registration will be issued.
9. Federal trademark registration is evidence in litigation of (a) validity of registration, (b) ownership of mark, and (c) exclusive right to use mark on specific goods.
10. States also have registration and protection systems.
11. Protection continues as long as mark usage is continued; abandonment will result in loss of registration.
12. “Likelihood of confusion” is central in trademark dispute. Factors that can enter the issue are: (a) “strength” of plaintiff’s mark, (b) marks’ degree of similarity, (c) whether products compete, (d) likelihood plaintiff may enter defendant’s market, (e) consumers’ sophistication, (f) quality of defendant’s product, (g) existence of actual confusion, and (h) defendant’s “bad faith” in using mark.

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