Intellectual Property: Understanding Copyright Law and Infringement, Study notes of Humanities

Download Intellectual Property: Understanding Copyright Law and Infringement and more Study notes Humanities in PDF only on Docsity! 1 Intellectual Property October 26, 2006 2 Sources of Copyright Law • 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.” United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 8. 3 Intellectual Property • Refers to creations of the mind (or intellect). • Can be physical or intangible. • Is protected in the form of copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secret laws. • Is territorial (Must be pursued separately in each jurisdiction of interest). 4 Copyright Law Protects … • All “original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression” (The Copyright Act of 1976). • These include: – Literary works: fiction or non-fiction, computer (software) programs, etc.; – Audiovisual works and motion pictures (e.g., Web pages, computer games, movies, TV programs); – Pictorial and graphical works; – Musical productions, choreographic works, sound recordings; – Compilations (e.g., databases, directories); – Derivative works. 5 Copyright Law Excludes … • Ideas, concepts, principles, facts – Idea-Expression Divide (Fixed expression or manifestation of an idea, but not the idea itself, is protected) • Procedures, processes – E.g., Mathematical equations or formulas, algorithms • Systems, methods of operation • Discoveries 6 Rights Granted Include … • Exclusive rights to: – Reproduce – Modify/Adapt (for derivative works) – Distribute to the public (by sale, rental, lease, or lending) – Perform in public – Display publicly – Sell or transfer these rights 7 Length of Protection • Under the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright would last for the life of the author plus 50 years, or 75 years for corporate authorship. • The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998— alternatively known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act—extended these terms to life of the author plus 70 years and 95 years for corporate authorship. • 50 years plus life time is the norm in most countries outside of the United States. 8 Public Domain • Once copyright expires, a creative work enters public domain. • There is no legal restriction on works in the public domain. Then it can be used by anyone for any purpose. • All government documents in the United States are also in the public domain. 17 Even Linking Can Be an Issue • Some court cases have decided that linking without permission is a copyright violation. But there are conflicting rulings. • Online databases are protected, and extraction/ reutilization without permission can become a violation. • Framing another site can be an issue. • Merely linking to illegal online material is an illegal act. • The courts have supported those websites that don’t want (unauthorized) deep linking from other sites. 18 Apple v. Microsoft (1994) • The most complicated copyright lawsuit in the computer age thus far; it has had profound impact on later developments in the software industry. • Apple Computer, Inc. sued Microsoft (and Hewlett-Packard) for copyright infringement over using graphic user interface (GUI) elements in Windows 2 operating system. Apple argued that the “look and feel” of its Macintosh operating system enjoyed copyright protection, and Windows 2 copied its interface. 19 Apple & Microsoft: Who was the Villain? • Upon the judge’s demand for specific elements, Apple came up with 189 GUI gadgets. Under final analysis, the court ruled against Apple for the reasons that most of these elements were licensed to Microsoft by Apple, and a few others were not copyrightable because they were the only possible way to express an idea. • Although Microsoft won in court, Bill Gates decided to invest $150 million in Apple in 1997, widely believed as a way to make up with Apple. 20 Important Copyright Acts • Copyright Act of 1790 • Copyright Act of 1976 • No Electronic Theft Act of 1997 • Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 • Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 21 Copyright Act of 1790 • First U.S. copyright law. • Covered printed material, but extended to new technologies (photocopy, sound recordings, etc) later. • Copyright was protected for 14 years renewable once for an additional 14. 22 Copyright Act of 1976 • Most important copyright act in the U.S., and still remains the foundation of U.S. copyright law. • It preempts all previous copyright law in the United States, and redefines the legal boundary. – What is copyrighted – Exclusive rights – Term of protection – Fair use – Transfer • Most of the legal information covered before comes from this act. 23 NET Act of 1997 • No Electronic Theft Act, enacted in 1997. • It provides for criminal prosecution of individuals for copyright infringement, even when there is no monetary profit or commercial benefit. • Previous laws allowed criminal punishment only on conditions of “commercial advantage or private financial gain.” • Maximum penalties can be three years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. • So even if one is doing it for fun, that is still punishable under the NET Act. 24 The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 • DMCA criminalizes the production and distribution of technologies that circumvent measures to protect copyrighted material. • So one is liable not only for direct copyright infringement, but also for technologically assisting others to do this. • If you develop a technique in cracking anti-piracy code, then you break this law. 25 Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 • Part of an effort to adapt U.S. copyright law to changing technologies. • It prohibits the bootlegging of copyrighted audio and video material as well as the filming of movies at movie theatres from the audience. • It also bans the early release of movies and software products before they are made publicly available by the vendors • It legalizes the production of DVD-sanitizing software, but bans the sales of sanitized versions of movies. 26 The Enclosure The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from off the goose. The law demands that we atone When we take things we do not own But leaves the lords and ladies fine Who take things that are yours and mine. The poor and wretched don't escape If they conspire the law to break; This must be so but they endure Those who conspire to make the law. The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common And geese will still a common lack Till they go and steal it back. - Anonymous 27 The Enclosure Movement • The conversion of common land into private ownership; • Primarily used to refer the historic period from the 12th to 19th centuries in England; • Similar process of privatization of public land took place in the United States in the colonial era; • Perpetuated the disadvantages for the underclass and the poor. 28 The Second Enclosure Movement • “The enclosure of the intangible commons of the mind" • The few corporate powers have amassed formidable digital assets from the general populace, while at the same time, the public has become powerless and victimized by this drive. • This takes place in the name of the protection of intellectual property rights. • Many argue this effort has actually hurt, not helped, innovativeness in the information age (under which pretense intellectual rights laws are passed).