If you make a short film such as "Happy birthday to you", you will pay a large licensing fee to Warner Music Group until recently. Class actions are currently about to change it.
Once, this decision was of interest only to those who were involved in the creation of professional film, television and theater. Recently, people who have an account of YouTube, Vimeo, Vine are interested.
The Internet has created many opportunities for those who publish works in a wide range of delivery possibilities, with video, music, photos, and writing, along with social media networks built on it It was. There are only a few people who want to make a living with only the work we made but only a small subset of the group succeeds,
First, basic definition: What is copyright in common people's words? In the United States, the Copyright Law extends the protection of unpublished "copyrighted works" that have been published. It encompasses various forms of expression, such as computer code other than books, movies, songs and professional fields, software, expressions not well known in fields other than architectural design. The deciding factor is that we need to fix the work in "specific expression mode". For example, an unnoticed or unrecorded choreography can not be duplicated until it is fixed in a durable medium. You can not give copyright to ideas.
This requirement is one of the factors that distinguishes between copyright protection and protection protected by patents or trademarks. A patent means not abstractly covering inventions or discoveries, rather than expressing ideas in a concrete manner. For example, there is current legal argument about whether the idea of podcasting (the broadcast available on request) is legally patented, and who is who it is. On the other hand, most individual podcasts are copyright-protected. This protection has nothing to do with patent arguments. Both patents and copyrights are issues of federal law.
Trademarks, on the other hand, are words, phrases or designs used to distinguish one party 's products from others' products. (Service marks are more or less the same, but differentiate service providers; the term "trademark" is often used interactively to cover service marks). Artistic design is automatically protected by copyright, but it provides duplication, but not identical legal protection. Federal trademark law exists, but most of trademark law works at state level.
One of the main differences between copyright and patents or trademarks is that you need to submit to receive either of the latter. By contrast, copyright protection is automatically expanded from eligible work to eligible work. However, creators can voluntarily register with the copyright office. This procedure is not necessary for copyright protection, but has several advantages. Give copyright as a matter of public record and give certificate of certificate to copyright holder. Before filing lawsuits against infringers of copyright, it is necessary to register copyright. It is generally easy and effective to register before a dispute about the identity of the true copyright owner arises.
Those who wish to register are provided online forms by the US Copyright Office. Registration can be done electronically or by post. Registration includes application form, nominally payable non-refundable application fee, non-refundable copy of the work being registered. It is generally simple enough for layperman to prepare with the help of a lawyer. The application must be submitted by the copyright applicant, either the author of the work or the employer of the author (if the work was created for employment). Owner of the exclusive right of copyright if the claimant sells or transfers it to another person. Or a legal representative of the claimant (for example, a person holding a power of attorney of the author).
In the past, in order to protect unpublished works, people sometimes mailed their work to himself, as is known as "copyright of poor people". However, with the current copyright law, this is not necessary for copyright protection, it is not a substitute for copyright registration, so it is not the original purpose. Since 1989, creators did not need to include copyright symbols (©) in copyrighted work. However, if you include it spontaneously, you can reduce the allegations of copyright infringement after the unauthorized use.
Regardless of whether it is registered or not, it is important to remember that the copyright of the work is not without limit. One such limit is time. The copyright of the work created after January 1, 1978 will be extended for another 70 years in addition to the life of the author. When multiple authors made a work, this term is 70 years after the death of the last surviving author. If the work is made for employment, or if the author is unknown, the copyright will be extended for a period of 95 years from publication or 120 years from production. (The rules will vary depending on the work created before 1978). When the copyright period ends, the work will be in the public domain.
Under the doctrine of "fair use", there are also cases where people can freely use works protected by copyright. If you are the copyright owner, much of the rights to the work are limited to you. This includes most examples of copying (such as copying), but you may copy your work without permission. Whether a particular case is fair use is usually determined by a combination of the following four factors.
- Whether the use is inherently commercial or whether it is for nonprofit or educational interests.
- The nature of the copied work.
- Amount of work to be copied in relation to the size of the entire work. And
- Impact on the market value of the original.
There are no strict and rapid rules on when specific uses are violated. For example, the maximum number of lines of printing and the number of seconds of recording are automatically considered illegal. Authorizing the author by name is not a substitute for getting permission to actually use the work. But the court has established that certain uses are almost always legal, such as short quotes that appear in teachers or journal articles duplicating works for use in the lesson.
Some creators also abandon part of automatic copyright protection. They may do this for a variety of reasons. A creator abandoned the right as a copyright owner intentionally to promote ideological reasons and work. Some authors believe that the Copyright Act of 1976 is the basis of most US copyright laws and is too restrictive and protects existing works to damage new copyright laws I feel that. They choose to abandon rights as a way to level the stadium. Other creators simply want to make it easier for fans and followers to redistribute their work as a means of gathering publicity and voice. Creators are non-profit organizations and one of the main organizations that are active to allow creators to legally abandon certain rights and retain others.
Creators sometimes abandon copyright protection in less intentional ways. One of the main ways to abandon some or all of the rights as creators is to share the work on the social media platform. Right to the work they post. Photo sharing service Instagram last year, caused the repulsion among users, as the terms of service changed, as interpreted as a precursor to user promotion three months after Facebook acquisition. You can also use in ads without using photos allowed. Due to user dissatisfaction, Instagram deleted obnoxious words. The current language is more standard in that term. Although the user retains full ownership of the photo, Instagram grants a royalty-free non-exclusive license to the image.
Instagram is no exception. For sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, similar licensing agreements are specified under the terms of the service for those you hold copyright. Yahoo! & # 39; S Photo Sharing Site With Flickr, you can set the default license for photos to "No copyright" from full protection (normal copyright), but users will not delete Yahoo! images As long as you use royalty-free license to use content on your site. Although social media services incorporate such licenses primarily, it is important to notice that abandoning their own copyright protection by sharing photos on Facebook and Twitter. We need to carefully check the terms of use when monitoring changes in the services of the site you are currently using and signing up on a new platform.
What happens if I create something I want to earn directly? The copyright holder can reproduce the work as much as you like, perform, display and display it freely. Even if you buy a copy of the work, it does not affect copyright. For example, you can not have the rights of a book simply by purchasing a hard back copy. When you record an original song, you can sell as many copies of that song as you like without damaging your copyright at all.
Another way to benefit your work is by advertising income. This is a bit more complicated and details are beyond the scope of this article. However, programs such as YouTube Partner Program and Google's AdSense for Blogger can generate revenue instead of paired original content (such as a video or blog post) with a third-party advertisement. The owner of your content can benefit in this way if you choose.
If you want to satisfy your needs or create something that is popular, you may also want to sell licenses to those who want to use your work. They may wish to use derivative works, such as writing and playing songs with movie credits, setting songs released to their music, and using them for derivative work Hmm. Or you might want to distribute your work, such as showing a movie you made in an independent theater. Depending on what you want to do with work or your preference, you may only need explicit permission and may need to pay you (a one-time fee, a regular fee Or remainder). You can limit the permission to use work at a specific time or in a specific way. There is no legal requirement for this type of agreement. I will leave it to both parties to arrange for them.
When you acquire a license for your work, you must register with the copyright office to protect yourself. Considering the potential complexity, it is best to include a lawyer specializing in intellectual property when choosing a license for your work. A lawyer will help you to create a license or license template that reflects your intentions. Even if you are not seeking professional advice, you need to write a written contract in writing so that both you and the licensee will be clear under these terms before the exchange of work takes place. Although it is possible to transfer copyright equivalent products, it is best to think long before copyright infringement because copyright will be abandoned in the future.
What happens when you use your work without your permission? You can pursue infringers in civil courts as long as you believe that you are registered with the copyright office and do not fall under fair use. But before doing it is important to consider whether it is worth the time and legal costs you may incur. There is a difference between a person who sells a book that stole most of your words and a teenager who posted pictures you shared on Instagram with your blog, but both are technologically infringed. Unilaterally, you will be awarded anything, if any, in the way of damages for the latter.
Before taking legal action, you can contact the infringer to notify the infringer and ask you to stop using it. If you are sharing work through Internet services, you can also contact the website to let them know that the user is in violation of copyright. This often violates the website's terms of service and may act accordingly. If the infringement is serious enough to guarantee the case, it is prudent to contact the lawyer before contacting the government or raising a complaint. (The FBI is in charge of pursuing intellectual property rights infringement.)
The copyright is complicated, but the US law is generally on the side of the author. In the world where we share our thoughts and images freely, we can protect you and your work by taking time to know your own rights.
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