Copyright: Difference between revisions

There are six basic rights covered by copyright: reproduction (the ability to make copies), adaptation (translating to another medium, like turning a book into a movie or video game, or vice-versa), public distribution (issuing copies), public performance (performing a play), public display (showing a painting in a museum), and digital (running a computer program). Not every type of copyright work is protected by all rights. For instance, there is no performance right for sculptures. Sound recordings do not have the public performance or display right, the results of a compromise the music industry deeply regrets. The copyright holder can license away any or all of these right to different parties at different times. Further, it can subdivide the rights even further (one company can get the adaptation rights for film, another for television). Finding out who owns what rights and for how long can keep a copyright lawyer busy for a long time.

 

 

You can lend your copy of ''[[Inception]]'' to a friend and not violate the distribution right because it isn't sufficiently "public." What is considered public is defined by the common law (i.e., court cases). However, if your friend burns extra copies of ''[[Inception]]'' so you both can have one or uses the clips to make an [[Shipping|Arthur/Ariadne]] tribute video, he has violated the reproduction (burning the copy) and adaptation (the music video) rights. Uploading the video onto Youtube might be considered violation of the public performance right. The question then become whether these uses can fall under [[Fair Use]].