Copyright: Difference between revisions

Content added Content deleted
VisualWikitext
m (categories and general cleanup)
m (Mass update links)
Line 5: Line 5:
Copyright gives its owner the ability to restrict certain uses of a work of art (generally called just a "work" on this very wiki) for a certain period of time. Once that period of time expires, the work falls into the "public domain" and the ability to enforce restrictions ends. Note that this is the ''ability'' to enforce a restriction; the copyright owner can choose not to enforce some restrictions, which is why [[Fanfiction.net]] still exists. [[The Grateful Dead]], for example, had a policy to let fans legitimately make recordings of their performances (which would have been bootlegs if the permission had not been granted), even letting them bring recording equipment near the stage to do so.
Copyright gives its owner the ability to restrict certain uses of a work of art (generally called just a "work" on this very wiki) for a certain period of time. Once that period of time expires, the work falls into the "public domain" and the ability to enforce restrictions ends. Note that this is the ''ability'' to enforce a restriction; the copyright owner can choose not to enforce some restrictions, which is why [[Fanfiction.net]] still exists. [[The Grateful Dead]], for example, had a policy to let fans legitimately make recordings of their performances (which would have been bootlegs if the permission had not been granted), even letting them bring recording equipment near the stage to do so.


The copyright owner is granted the ''right'' to stop certain uses, not the ''requirement'' to do so. This is different from [[Trademark|trademarks]]; if you don't "police" your mark (stop misuse of it), then if there is a lawsuit the court may declare your mark generic (allowing anyone to use it) because you didn't actively protect it, or abandoned (you stopped associating the mark with the good or service). This requirement is not applicable to copyright; the copyright owner is allowed to use that right selectively; they can ignore 4,000 violations and then successfully drop a hammer on the 4,001st; the fact they didn't go after the several thousand other unauthorized uses is not an issue the court is going to notice or care about. For instance, it was okay for [[JK Rowling|J.K. Rowling]] to approve the ''HP Lexicon'' when it was just a Web site, but she attempted to throw the book at its author when it was being made into a book. This is due to the fact that Trademark is governed by the Commerce Clause of the Constitution rather than the Copyright/Patent clause. Trademarks only have value insofar as they represent ''something else.'' Copyrighted works are valuable as themselves.
The copyright owner is granted the ''right'' to stop certain uses, not the ''requirement'' to do so. This is different from [[Trademark|trademarks]]; if you don't "police" your mark (stop misuse of it), then if there is a lawsuit the court may declare your mark generic (allowing anyone to use it) because you didn't actively protect it, or abandoned (you stopped associating the mark with the good or service). This requirement is not applicable to copyright; the copyright owner is allowed to use that right selectively; they can ignore 4,000 violations and then successfully drop a hammer on the 4,001st; the fact they didn't go after the several thousand other unauthorized uses is not an issue the court is going to notice or care about. For instance, it was okay for [[J. K. Rowling]] to approve the ''HP Lexicon'' when it was just a Web site, but she attempted to throw the book at its author when it was being made into a book. This is due to the fact that Trademark is governed by the Commerce Clause of the Constitution rather than the Copyright/Patent clause. Trademarks only have value insofar as they represent ''something else.'' Copyrighted works are valuable as themselves.


The right to stop some uses is not a natural right. Copyright as it exists now is a creation of government, and the rights the copyright owner does have can be and are restricted for some uses and not others. Basically it depends on who has better lobbyists to meet with members of Congress and get their side's interests put into law. The very first form of Copyright was [[wikipedia:Statute of Anne|The Statute of Anne]] which applied for 28 years. This law was so popular it was incorporated in the The US Constitution and has been extended several times. The 1976 Act is a complex piece of legislation that made nobody happy because it was the result of a nearly two decade fight between copyright holders and ''librarians'' among others representing the public interest. Nowadays the trend in copyright law is to pass broad sweeping prohibitions (such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and have the Librarian of Congress review the law every three years to issue exceptions. The [http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/07/drm-buster-faq-what-it-means-for-you/ exceptions] released in July 2010 have been seen as [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|positive]] for the general public and believers in [[Fair Use]].
The right to stop some uses is not a natural right. Copyright as it exists now is a creation of government, and the rights the copyright owner does have can be and are restricted for some uses and not others. Basically it depends on who has better lobbyists to meet with members of Congress and get their side's interests put into law. The very first form of Copyright was [[wikipedia:Statute of Anne|The Statute of Anne]] which applied for 28 years. This law was so popular it was incorporated in the The US Constitution and has been extended several times. The 1976 Act is a complex piece of legislation that made nobody happy because it was the result of a nearly two decade fight between copyright holders and ''librarians'' among others representing the public interest. Nowadays the trend in copyright law is to pass broad sweeping prohibitions (such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and have the Librarian of Congress review the law every three years to issue exceptions. The [http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/07/drm-buster-faq-what-it-means-for-you/ exceptions] released in July 2010 have been seen as [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|positive]] for the general public and believers in [[Fair Use]].
Line 35: Line 35:
Copyright originally required registration for every country you wanted it to apply to; if you didn't register overseas, your work wasn't protected there. Publishers in the United States and the United Kingdom routinely "pirated" works from the other country perfectly legally, to the annoyance of some authors.
Copyright originally required registration for every country you wanted it to apply to; if you didn't register overseas, your work wasn't protected there. Publishers in the United States and the United Kingdom routinely "pirated" works from the other country perfectly legally, to the annoyance of some authors.


The annoyance finally got to where it couldn't be ignored. During the 19th century, at the urging of playwright [[Victor Hugo (Creator)|Victor Hugo]], the first international treaty to give copyright in multiple countries was established: the "''Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works''." Most nations of the world, with the notable exception of the United States, joined the convention and became members of the "Berne Union" right away. The basic reason the United States could not agree to accede to the Berne Convention and become a member of the Union back then was that the treaty did not require copyright notices, which was a serious thing. If you have copyrights without copyright notices, then there is no way to be ''sure'' if a work has entered the public domain, and everything is copyrighted whether the author and publisher value it or not, up to and including grocery lists.
The annoyance finally got to where it couldn't be ignored. During the 19th century, at the urging of playwright [[Victor Hugo]], the first international treaty to give copyright in multiple countries was established: the "''Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works''." Most nations of the world, with the notable exception of the United States, joined the convention and became members of the "Berne Union" right away. The basic reason the United States could not agree to accede to the Berne Convention and become a member of the Union back then was that the treaty did not require copyright notices, which was a serious thing. If you have copyrights without copyright notices, then there is no way to be ''sure'' if a work has entered the public domain, and everything is copyrighted whether the author and publisher value it or not, up to and including grocery lists.


The U.S. often had special agreements with other countries that each would agree to give protection to works created in the other country subject to certain rules; these are called "Bilateral Arrangements". Near the beginning of the 20th century, the United States and many nations in Latin America developed a treaty called the "''Buenos Aires Convention''", in which a work first published in any country that is a party to the convention with a notice claiming a reservation of rights, would be granted protection in all countries that were parties to the treaty. This is where the term "All Rights Reserved" on copyright notices originated.
The U.S. often had special agreements with other countries that each would agree to give protection to works created in the other country subject to certain rules; these are called "Bilateral Arrangements". Near the beginning of the 20th century, the United States and many nations in Latin America developed a treaty called the "''Buenos Aires Convention''", in which a work first published in any country that is a party to the convention with a notice claiming a reservation of rights, would be granted protection in all countries that were parties to the treaty. This is where the term "All Rights Reserved" on copyright notices originated.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Copyright"