Copyright Outline
© © © Copyright Law © © ©
➢ Copyright law comes from 17 U.S.C. §101 et. Seq. ➢ Nature of copyright law • Purpose of copyright law: o to stimulate the creation and dissemination of as many works of authorship as possible, in order to benefit the public. o To promote progress of science and the useful arts (science refers to © and useful arts deals with patents). o “To promote the Progress of Science and the Useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” – US Const. Article 1, §8, clause 8- “IP Clause” o Intended beneficiaries are the public, as a whole • Gives creators of works of authorship limited rights in their works. • Public Goods issue: o Notes the difference between tangible property and intangible property. ▪ It is hard to keep people out, esp. as we continue to advance in tech. o We give creators the incentive to create. ▪ In the US the incentives are money and the bundle of rights (§106). • Idea is that if you make money, you will use it to create more artistic works. • Dichotomy is the more control we give authors, the less access the public gets. And if we give more access to the public, then we take away incentives for the authors to create. We want to have a straight balance on the “see saw” so that we have given enough rights to the authors and enough access to the public. ➢ The statutory definition • 1976 Act provides that copyright subsists “in the original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.” ➢ History of © Law: • Knowing the
➢ Copyright law comes from 17 U.S.C. §101 et. Seq. ➢ Nature of copyright law • Purpose of copyright law: o to stimulate the creation and dissemination of as many works of authorship as possible, in order to benefit the public. o To promote progress of science and the useful arts (science refers to © and useful arts deals with patents). o “To promote the Progress of Science and the Useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” – US Const. Article 1, §8, clause 8- “IP Clause” o Intended beneficiaries are the public, as a whole • Gives creators of works of authorship limited rights in their works. • Public Goods issue: o Notes the difference between tangible property and intangible property. ▪ It is hard to keep people out, esp. as we continue to advance in tech. o We give creators the incentive to create. ▪ In the US the incentives are money and the bundle of rights (§106). • Idea is that if you make money, you will use it to create more artistic works. • Dichotomy is the more control we give authors, the less access the public gets. And if we give more access to the public, then we take away incentives for the authors to create. We want to have a straight balance on the “see saw” so that we have given enough rights to the authors and enough access to the public. ➢ The statutory definition • 1976 Act provides that copyright subsists “in the original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.” ➢ History of © Law: • Knowing the
Links: ▪ When did you create this work? • June 1, 1991- duration is life of the author.