©opyright

Who here has a copyright?

Let’s Learn From Disney

Vaidhyanathan (2003)

Vaidhyanathan ©ont'd At the beginning of 20th century law began to favor producers at expense of consumers IP has become America's most valuable export (50% or so of US exports) Law has lost sight of encouraging creativity, science, and democracy; it protects producers and taxes consumers Healthy public sphere needs thin copyright; news/mags/papers don't report on IP issues? Corporations use IP to create artificial scarcity

Basics of Copyright 17 U.S.C. Expression of an idea fixed in a tangible medium Statutory law; comes from Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of US Constitution Duration for natural people = life + 70 years; juristic people = 95 years Public Domain (anything other than sound recordings made pre 1923) Copyright Act of 1976 is governing legislation No © needed; only need to register with Copyright Office if you plan to sue or foresee the need to sue

5 Exclusive Rights 17 U.S.C. 106 1) Reproduce the work (make copies) 2) Prepare derivatives (translations, appear in other media, sample, sync with media, etc.) 3) Distribute copies by sale, rental, lease, etc. 4) To perform the work publicly Excludes sound recordings 5) To display the work publicly 6) Perform sound recordings via digital transmission

RP3D (Exclusive Rights) 5 Exclusive rights of copyright holder 1) Reproduce 2) Perform publicly 3) Distribute copies 4) Display publicly 5) prepare Derivatives (essential to the remix with permission aka a license)

Copyright Ownership if you meet... 1. Fixation—the work exists in a medium from which the author’s expression can be read, seen or heard, either directly or by the aid of a machine. 2. Originality—the work owes its origin and independent creation of an author. 3. Minimal creativity—the work is the product of at least a minimal level of creativity. Originality? Creativity? Who decides?????

What DOES © Protect ©ont'd? 1) LITERARY WORKS (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, textbooks, reference works, directories, catalogs, advertising copy) 2) MUSICAL WORKS (compositions, arrangements, lyrics) 3) DRAMATIC WORKS (plays, scripts for tv/cinema/radio, treatments) 4) PANTOMINES and CHOREOGRAPHY (embodied in video, audio, or written form, notation)

What DOES © Protect ©ont'd? 5) PICTORIAL, GRAPHIC, SCULPTURAL (pictures, prints, maps, charts, drawings, paintings, 2d/3d, mannequins, decorative belt buckles) 6) MOTION PICTURE / AUDIOVISUAL (feature film, documentary film, animated film, television show, video, videogame) 7) SOUND RECORDINGS 8) ARCHITECTUAL WORKS (1990, drawings, drafts, plans, etc.)

What Doesn’t © Protect? Ideas Facts Recipes, jokes, fashion/clothing News/Sports *but how facts are expressed are copyrightable Recipes, jokes, fashion/clothing Instructions Logos Names Processes Inventions Anything made by federal government Trade secrets... Formula, process, design, pattern, recipe…allow for economic advantage

Feist v. Rural (1991) Supreme Court decision Feist copied from Rural's listings Prior, “sweat of brow” Copyrightability based in originality Sig: Can’t copyright facts/info Sig: Copyright can only apply to creative aspects of a collection Alphabetical order not creative enough

Idea/Expression Dichotomy 17 U.S.C 102 (b) Limits SCOPE I/E dichotomy at crux of balance between producers and consumers You CANNOT copyright ideas, JUST expressions of ideas Other people can use your ideas, just not their expressions Ideas can be protected via patent, contract law or trade secrets Merger doctrine: if idea and expression are inseparable (only one way to express idea, i.e. algorithm or game rules), generally it cannot be copyrighted because they have merged

Buchwald v. Paramount (1990) Breach of contract NOT copyright Art Buchwald pitched treatment to Paramount in 1982; script development failed Warner optioned treatment in 1986; dropped because Paramount was in development Murphy/Landis wrote Coming to America (1988) Sig: Contract > Copyright

Who here has a copyright?