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The U.S. Copyright Primer, Part I
U.S. Copyrights Generally...
This area is the least understood of all intellectual property rights, although
it is incredibly broad and impacts our lives everyday, especially when we are
online. While most of us think about copyright infringement only when we
consider our children (or ourselves) downloading music online without paying for
it, copyright is much broader and involved in all aspects of our worklife.
Works that are protected by copyright include the following seven general
categories:
(1) literary works; (2) musical works; (3) dramatic works; (4) choreographic
works; (5) pictorial, graphic and sculptural works; (6) motion pictures and
other audiovisual works; and (7) sound recordings.
Only original works of authorship can be copyrighted.
The Copyright Owner Has Certain Exclusive Rights.
Subject to certain limitations, a copyright owner has exclusive rights regarding
their "original work of authorship."
They have the exclusive right to: copy the work; distribute the work; and, in
the case of certain performable works, the right to perform the copyrighted work
publicly.
Copyright Infringement.
Anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of a copyright owner is an
infringer of the copyright. Copyright protection begins as soon as an original
work of authorship is "fixed" in any tangible medium of expression.
That means that the work is protected even before registration, as soon as
"pen is put to paper," a copyright exists.
Copyright protection exists for both published and unpublished works, and for
derivations based upon an original copyrighted work.
Copyrighted works are generally protected for the life of the author plus fifty
years, or, in the case of works made for hire (to be discussed in Part II of
this series), seventy-five years from the date of first publication, or one
hundred years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.
Requirements for Registering a Copyright.
The Copyright Act requires that all work meet a three-prong test in order to
qualify for copyright protection and registration.
>The work must be original. (It cannot be copied from another source.);
>The work must consist of "expression," not just "ideas." ; and
>The work must be fixed in a "tangible medium of expression . . . from which
[it] can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or
with the aid of a machine or device."
Most written and multimedia materials satisfy these requirements, and
businesses should keep this in mind in seeking to protect their presentations,
videos, slides and publications.
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Parry
Aftab, Esq., 
Marvel and
all character names and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of
Marvel Characters, Inc., and are used with permission. TM & © 2004 Marvel
Characters, Inc. All rights reserved. “Super Heroes” is a Co-owned registered
Trademark.