Copyright Discussion (Matt) Part 1 (Feb 15, 2006)

1790 – Idea of copyright started in U.S.

- under the auspice of promoting creativity, a sort of social contract where the government will protect you if you create independent work

- US was the first country, and we use it more and push it out on other countries

- Each country has its own sets of copyright rules

PUBLIC DOMAIN

- up copyrighted material

- these things were created to benefit the greater society

- examples include Shakespeare plays and videos from the 1930’s

Modern Changes in Copyright:

1976 – Last Major Revision / Basic Copyright framework:

- Copyright covers the expression of an idea, not the idea itself

o Patents cover the idea and are usually for scientific ideas

1989 – Absence of a copyright symbol is not absence of copyright

- don’t have to file if you created a work, you automatically get work copyrighted

Intellectual property becomes a profitable industry:

1998 – Sonny Bono Act

- extended copyright by 20 years

- copyright now lasts the duration of the artist’s life plus 70 years

- for corporations, it lasts 95 years

- no standards on how copyright owners can charge to use material

Challenges for Media Makers:

- Current works want to incorporate other current works (for example, documentaries about the state of the media industry want to include current tv shows, but they cost too much to get rights to use materials from big networks)

- “Thicket of Rights” - Untold Stories: Creative Consequences of the Rights Clearance Culture for Documentary Filmmakers by Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jasziby (http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/rock/finalreport.htm)

o it’s a challenge to navigate the legal system of what you can and cannot do

- for musicians – there are several layers of copyright ownership: lyricist, composer, artist

FAIR USE:

- allows media makers to use bits

- for purposes of education, commentary, political & economic life, news reporting, and research

- BUT, statute doesn’t define:

1. Purpose

2. Nature of original work

3. % use of total work

4. Value

- 1^st sale doctrine – resale / renting videos

FUN FACT:

How to get the copyright symbol © on the computer:

- Hexadecimal code: 00A9

- HTML: © OR © OR &#169