Source: http://www.jonathanpinkesq.com/hello-world
Timestamp: 2020-03-30 15:57:19
Document Index: 392002225

Matched Legal Cases: ['§401', '§102', '§107', '§501', '§202', '§202', '§102', '§302', '§202', '§201', '§204', '§106', '§201', '§103']

Copyright Myths Debunked – Jonathan Pink — Entertainment, Internet and New Media Partner at Lewis Brisbois, LLP
Over lunch the other day, a coworker asked whether it was true that there was no need to register work with the Copyright Office as long as you put it into an envelope and mail it to yourself. Gazing past the rigatoni stuck in his teeth and focusing on the question, I realized that I had heard it before. Many times before. “So what’s the deal?” he asked, “Is it true or not?”
The answer is … buried in the following multiple-choice test.
Copyright protection comes from placing a “©” on your work.
The answer is c. For works created after March 1, 1989, copyright protection attaches immediately and automatically at the moment of creation. You can even try it at home: take a pen, draw a quick sketch. Done? Great. Copyright protection has already attached. And it does not require you to pen in that familiar © symbol. 17 USC §401(a); 17 USC §102(a).
For works created before March 1989, the © was required for protection-although in the labyrinth of copyright laws, some allowance was made for works published after December 31, 1977 if the would-be copyright owner took certain measures to cure the error of omitting the mark.
The answer is all of the above. Though the “fair use” doctrine allows for some limited copying of a small portion of some works-for example, quotes for use in educational or scholarly works, criticism, parody, and news reporting-there is no bright-line rule as to how much is too much.
The law weighs into the mix the purpose of the use, the nature of the work, the amount used as it relates to the whole, and the effect of the use on the value of the copyrighted work. 17 USC §107. But, generally, taking any part of a copyrighted work is subject to a claim for copyright infringement. And under this same rule, a person also cannot escape liability for copyright infringement simply by making a few minor changes to copyrighted material. 17 USC §501(a).
The answer is b. Although slogans, titles, names, and short words and phrases may be protectable under trademark law, they are not entitled to copyright protection. 37 CFR §202.1. Also not protected by copyright are ideas — other than the written expression of those ideas — such as recipes or formulas, absent their incorporation into some larger work or written expression. 37 CFR §202.1; 17 USC §102(b). That means that if someone stole your recipe for chocolate chip cookies, or if you had the idea for The Firm before John Grisham did, you’re out of luck. But hey, you’ve still got your sketch.
There is, however, an exception to this rule. The copyright for anonymous works, pseudonymous works, and works made for hire is 95 years from the date of first publication, or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever comes first. 17 USC §302. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that Congress may extend the copyright term, as it has done from time to time since the act’s inception. See Eldred v. Ashcroft (2002) 122 S. Ct. 1062.
The answer is b. Acquiring a copyrighted work does not mean that you’ve acquired the copyright as well. 17 USC §202. It is possible to acquire the copyright to your favorite works — provided they are entitled to copyright protection-but this requires a transfer from the copyright holder (17 USC §201) and must be done in writing (17 USC §204). Specifically, part or all of the exclusive bundle of rights held by a copyright owner-importantly, to reproduce, perform, or prepare derivative works-may be transferred during life or at death. 17 USC §106; 17 USC §§201 (d)(1),(2). This brings the more astute back to Napster — the free, online, song-swapping service that got hit with an infringement action when it failed to prevent its users from illegally swapping MP3 files.
Practically speaking, this means that just because you own every collection of Calvin & Hobbs ever published, that does not mean that you can create window decals of those characters and sell them to motorists across the nation. You may even own the “Essential Calvin & Hobbs,” but you don’t own the right to reproduce the images it contains. It also means that if you bought one of those decals and slapped it onto your SUV, you should go outside right now — yes, now — and scrape it off with a butter knife. Don’t worry; we’ll wait.
The answer is a. Once a copyright expires and the work goes into the public domain, it’s free for the taking. Public domain is legalese for not copyrighted. This typically refers to works that never acquired copyright protection in the first place- because they failed to include the (c) during the years it was required or because the original copyright has simply expired, for example, any work that was created before 1923. To the extent you build on work that is in the public domain to create a derivative work, the material you add — as distinguished from the pre-existing material — is protected. That does not, however, affect the ability to copyright that portion of the work that entered the public domain; that remains available for anyone else to use. 17 USC §103(b).
This article first appeared in California Lawyer magazine.
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