The start of any discussion of copyright in the United States begins with the U.S. Constitution, Article I section 8, clause 8, “The Congress shall have 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.”
Over the years, Congress has enacted several statutes, with the most recent being the Copyright Act of 1976. Copyrightable works include literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works such as books, plays, music, lyrics, paintings, sculptures, video games, movies, sound recordings, and software. To be copyrightable a work must be “fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” That could be a napkin from a restaurant, or in a computer file.
Ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, or discoveries are not copyrightable. Copyright law protects only the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. Copyright protects the following rights:
(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;
(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
(4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly;
(5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and
(6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.
Copyright Act, Section 106.
There are certain limitations to these exclusive rights, such as,
- Library and archival copying
- Educational and nonprofit broadcasting for purposes of distance learning
- Nonprofit live performances and displays
- Reproductions for visually impaired persons
- Making copies of computer programs for archival and/or maintenance purposes
- Fair use
There are several benefits to the registration of a work for copyright. In addition to establishing a public record of a copyright claim, registration offers several other statutory advantages:
- You must register before an infringement suit may be filed in court for U.S. works.
- When registration is made before or within five years of publication, it establishes prima facie evidence of the validity of the copyright and facts stated in the certificate.
- If registration is made prior to an act of infringement or within 3 months after the publication of a work, the copyright owner is eligible for statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs.
- A copyright owner is able to establish a record with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for protection against the importation of infringing copies after registration is complete.
If you have a work that you want to copyright, contact MJM for a consultation.
Links
https://www.uspto.gov/ip-policy/copyright-policy/copyright-basics
https://www.copyright.gov/title17/
