COPYRIGHT INFORMATION by: Inez Harrison [This information is a compilation from various Circulars and Forms from the U.S. Copyright Office.] ��������������������������������������������������������������������Ŀ �NOTE: A great deal of time has been spent gathering this � � information and should prove to be resourceful for any and � � all. If your specific needs are not included, there is � � information informing you where to get this information from.� � � � If you have information, from the Copyright Office, not � � included, I would appreciate it for inclusion. � ���������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������ͻ � WHAT IS COPYRIGHT? � ��������������������ͼ Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of "original works of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual work. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following: - To reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords; - To prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work; - To distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending; - To perform the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works; and - To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work. It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the Act to the owner of copyright. These rights, however, are not unlimited in scope. Sections 107* through 119 of the Copyright Act establish limitations on these rights. In some cases, these limitations are specified exemptions from copyright liability. One major limitation is the doctrine of "fair use", which is given a statutory basis in section 107 of the Act. In other instances, the limitation takes the form of a "compulsory license" under which certain limited uses of copyrighted works are permitted upon payment of specified royalties and compliance with statutory conditions. For further information about the limitations of any of these rights, consult the Copyright Act or write to the Copyright Office. *-Section 107 contains a list of various purposes for which the repro- duction of a particular work may be considered "fair", such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, etc. Factors considered include: (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantially of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.] Copyright is not like a patent, where you own the item outright. Instead you have certain rights to protect your work from others making a "PROFIT" on something that you produced. The limitations on exclusive copyrights are rather liberal, as long as you are not trying to make a profit. The means of transmission or reproduction do not matter in regard to written works. Although the courts have considered and ruled upon the fair use doctrine over and over again, no real definition of the concept has ever emerged. Indeed, since the doctrine is an equitable rule of reason, no generally applicable definition is possible, and each case raising the question must be decided on its own facts. The Committee has amended the first of the criteria to be considered - "the purpose and character of the use" - to state explicitly that this factor includes a consideration of "whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for non-profit educational purposes." Guidelines: (i) Poetry: (a) A complete poem if less than 250 words and if printed on not more than two pages or, (b) from a longer poem, an excerpt of not more than 250 words. (ii) Prose: (a) Either a complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words or, (b) an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less, but in any event a minimum of 500 words. (Each of the numerical limits stated in "i" and "ii" above may be expanded to permit the completion of an unfinished line of a poem or of an unfinished prose paragraph.) ��������������������������ͻ � WHO CAN CLAIM COPYRIGHT? � ��������������������������ͼ Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form; that is, it is an incident of the process of authorship. The copyright in the work of authorship "immediately" becomes the property of the author who created it. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright. In the case of works made for hire, the employer and not the employee is presumptively considered the author. Section 101 of the copyright statute defines a "work made for hire" as: (1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or, (2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work, as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, as a translation, as a supplementary work, as a compilation, as an instructional text, as a test, as answer material for a test, or as an atlas, if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire... The authors of a joint work are co-owners of the copyright in the work, unless there is an agreement to the contrary. Copyright in each separate contribution to a periodical or other collective work is distinct from copyright in the collective work as a whole and vests initially with the author of the contribution. TWO GENERAL PRINCIPLES - Mere ownership of a book, manuscript, painting, or any other copy or phonorecord does not give the possessor the copyright. The law provides that transfer of ownership of any material object that embodies a protected work does not of itself convey any rights in the copyright. - Minors who claim copyright, but state laws may regulate the business dealings involving copyright owned by minors. For information on relevant state laws, consult an attorney. ���������������������������ͻ � WHAT WORKS ARE PROTECTED? � ���������������������������ͼ Copyright protects "original works of authorship" that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible, so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories: (1) literary works; (2) musical work, including any accompanying words; (3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music; (4) pantomimes and choreographic works; (5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; (6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works; (7) sound recordings; and (8) architectural works. These categories should be viewed quite broadly: for example, computer programs and most "compilations" are registerable as "literary works"; maps and architectural plans are registerable as "pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works." �������������������������������������ͻ � WHAT IS NOT PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT? � �������������������������������������ͼ Several categories of material are generally not eligible for statutory copyright protection. These include among others: - Works that have -not- been fixed in a tangible form of expression. - Titles, names, short phrases and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listing of ingredients or contents. - Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration. * Works consisting -entirely- of information that is common property and containing no original authorship. ���������������������������ͻ � HOW TO SECURE A COPYRIGHT � ���������������������������ͼ COPYRIGHT SECURED AUTOMATICALLY UPON CREATION The way in which copyright protection is secured under the present law is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright (see NOTE). There are, however, certain definite advantages to registration. Copyright is secured -automatically- when the work is created, and a work is "created" when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. "Copies" are material objects from which a work can be read or visual perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. "Phonorecords" are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as audio tapes and phonograph disks. Thus, for example, a song (the "work") can be fixed in sheet music ("copies") or in phonograph disks ("phonorecords"), or both. If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date. �������������ͻ � PUBLICATION � �������������ͼ Publication is no longer the key to obtaining statutory copyright as it was under the Copyright Act of 1909. However, publication remains important to copyright owners. The Copyright Act defines publication as follows: "Publication" is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display, constitutes publication. A public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute publication. ������������������������������������������������������������������������ͻ � [NOTE: Before 1978, statutory copyright was generally secured by the � � act of publication with notice of copyright, assuming compliance with � � all other relevant statutory conditions. Works in the public domain � � on January 1, 1978 (for example, works published without satisfying � � all conditions for securing statutory copyright under the Copyright � � Act of 1909) remain in the public domain under the current Act. � � � � Statutory copyright could also be secured before 1978 by the act of � � registration in the case of certain unpublished works and works � � eligible for an interim copyright. The current Act automatically � � extends to full term (section 304 sets the term) copyright of all � � works in which an interim copyright was subsisting or was capable of � � being secured on December 31, 1977. � ������������������������������������������������������������������������ͼ A further discussion of the definition of "publication" can be found in the legislative history of the Act. The legislative reports define "to the public" as distribution to persons under no explicit or implicit restrictions with respect to disclosure of the contents... - When a work is published, it may bear a notice of copyright to identify the year of publication and the name of copyright owner and to inform the public that the work is protected by copyright. Works published before March 1, 1989, must bear the notice or risk loss of copyright protection. (See discussion of "NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT" below) - Works that are published in the United States are subject to mandatory deposit with the Library of Congress. - Publication of a work can affect the limitations on the exclusive rights of the copyright owner that are set forth in sections 107 through 119 of the law. - The year of publication may determine the duration of copyright protection for anonymous and and pseudonymous works (when the author's identity is not revealed in the records of the Copyright Office) and for works made for hire. - Deposit requirements for registration of published works differ from those for registration of unpublished works. ���������������������ͻ � NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT � ���������������������ͼ For works first published on and after March 1, 1989, use of the copyright notice is optional, through highly recommended. Before March 1, 1989, the use of the notice was mandatory on all published works, and any work first published before that date must bear a notice or risk loss of copyright protection. Use of the notice is recommended because it informs the public that the work is protected by copyright, identifies the copyright owner, and shows the year of first publication. Furthermore, in the event that a work is infringed, if the work carries a proper notice, the court will not allow a defendant to claim "innocent infringement" -- that is, that he or she did not realize that the work is protected. (A successful innocent infringement claim may result in a reduction in damages that the copyright owner would otherwise receive.) The use of the copyright notice is the responsibility of the copyright owner and does not require advance permission, or registration with, the Copyright Office. FORM OF NOTICE FOR VISUALLY PERCEPTIBLE COPIES The notice for visually perceptible copies should contain all of the following three elements: 1: The symbol (the letter C in a circle), or the word "Copyright," or the abbreviation "Copr."; and 2: The year of first publication of the work. In the case of compilations or derivative works incorporating previously published material, the year date of the compilation or derivative work is sufficient; and 3: The name of the owner of copyright in the work, or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner. Examples: Copyright 1991 John Doe Copr. 1991 J. Doe (c) 1991 LooneyPoems The "C in a circle" notice is used only on "visually perceptible copies". Certain kinds of works--for example, musical, dramatic, and literary works--may be fixed not in "copies" but by means of sound in an audio recording. Since audio recordings such as audio tapes and phonograph disks are "phonorecords" and not "copies", the "C in a circle" notice is not used to indicate protection of the underlying musical, dramatic, or literary work that is recorded. POSITION OF NOTICE The notice should be affixed to copies or phonorecords of the work in such a manner and location as to "give reasonable notice of the claim of copyright". �����������������������������������������ͻ � OMISSION OF NOTICE AND ERRORS IN NOTICE � �����������������������������������������ͼ The information in this section applies only to works first published on and after January 1, 1978, and before March 1, 1989. The publication of copies or phonorecords with no notice or with incorrect notice will not automatically invalidate the copyright or affect ownership. However, certain errors in the notice or publication without a notice, if not corrected, may eventually result in the loss of copyright protection or in a change in the length of the term of copyright protection. The extent of the remedies available to a copyright owner may also be affected when someone innocently infringes a copyright by relying on an authorized copy or phonorecord with no notice or with an incorrect notice. OMISSION OF NOTICE "Omission of notice" is publishing without a notice. In addition, some errors are considered the same as omission of notice. These are: - A notice that does not contain the symbol (the letter C in a circle), or the word "Copyright" or the abbreviation "Copr." or, if the work is a sound recording, the symbol

(the letter P in a circle); - A notice dated more than 1 year later than the date of first publication; - A notice with a name or date that could reasonably be considered part of the notice; - A notice that lacks the statement required for works consisting preponderantly of U.S. Government material; and - A notice located so that it does not give reasonable notice of the claim of copyright. The omission of notice does not affect the copyright protection and no corrective steps are required if: 1: The notice is omitted from no more than a relatively small number of copies or phonorecords distributed to the public; or 2: The omission violated an express written requirement that the published copies or phonorecords bear the prescribed notice. In all other cases of omission, to preserve copyright: 1: The work must have been registered before it was published in any form or before the omission occurred or it must be registered within 5 years after the date of publication without notice; and 2: The copyright owner must make a reasonable effort to add the notice to all copies or phonorecords that are distributed to the public in the United States after the omission is discovered. If these corrective steps are not taken, the work will go into the public domain in the United States after 5 years after publication. At that time all U.S. copyright protection will be lost and cannot be restored. �����������������������ͻ � DURATION OF COPYRIGHT � �����������������������ͼ WORKS ALREADY UNDER STATUTORY PROTECTION BEFORE 1978 For works that had already secured statutory copyright protection before January 1, 1978, the 1976 law retains the old system for computing the duration of protection, but with some changes. Duration Under The Previous Law Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured either on the date a work was published, or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form. In either case, the copyright lasted for a first term of 28 years from the date it was secured. During the last (28th) year of the first term, the copyright was eligible for renewal. If renewed, the copyright was extended for a second term of 28 years. If not renewed, the copyright expired at the end of the first 28-year term. The term of copyright for works published with a copyright date earlier than the actual date of publication is computed from the date in the copyright notice. Works Originally Created On And After January 1, 1978 For works that are created and fixed in a tangible medium of expression for the first time on and after January 1, 1978, the Copyright Act of 1976 does away with all renewal requirements and establishes a single copyright term and different methods for computing the duration of a copyright. Works of this sort fall into two categories: 1: Works created on or after January 1, 1978: The U.S. copyright law, for works created after its effective date, adopts the basic "life- plus-fifty" system already in effect in most other countries. A work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation, and is given a term lasting for the author's life, plus an additional 50 years after the author's death. In the case of "a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire", the term lasts for 50 years after the last surviving author's death. For works made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author's identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 75 years from the first publication or 100 years from the creation, whichever is shorter. 2: Works in existence but not published or copyrighted on January 1, 1978: Works that had been created before the current law came into effect but had neither been published nor registered for copyright before January 1, 1978, automatically are given Federal copyright protection. The duration of copyright in these works will generally be computed in the same way as for new works: the life- plus-50 or 75/100-year terms will apply to them as well. However, all works in this category are guaranteed at least 25 years of statutory protection. The law specifies that in no case will copyright in a work of this sort expire before December 31, 2002, and if the work is published before that date the term will extend another 25 years, through the end of 2027. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This is a short listing of publications available from the Copyright Office. Application Forms For Original Registration: Form TX: for published and unpublished non-dramatic literary works (books, pamphlets, computer programs, manuscripts, poems, etc.) Form SE: for serials, works issued or intended to be issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely (periodicals, news- papers, magazines, newsletters, annuals, journals, etc.) Short Form/SE and Form SE/Group: Specialized SE forms for use when certain requirements are met Form PA: for published and unpublished works of the performing arts (musical compositions, dramatic works, pantomimes and choreographic works, motion pictures and other audiovisual works) Form VA: for published and unpublished works of the visual arts (pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, including architectural works) Form SR: for published and unpublished sound recordings. For Renewal Registration Form RE: for claims to renewal copyright in works copyrighted under the law in effect through December 31, 1977 (1909 Copyright Act) For Corrections and Amplifications Form CA: for supplementary registration to correct or amplify information given in the Copyright Office record of an earlier registration CIRCULARS Circular 1 - Copyright Basics [for overall information] Circular 2 - Publications on Copyright Circular 3 - Copyright Notice Circular 15 - Renewal of Copyright Circular 15a - Duration of Copyright Circular 21 - Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians Circular 22 - How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work Circular 50 - Copyright Registration for Musical Compositions Circular 56 - Copyright for Sound Recordings Circular 56a - Copyright Registration of Musical Compositions and Sound Recordings Circular 61 - Copyright Registration for Computer Programs Circular 62 - Copyright Registration for Serials on Form SE Circular 92 - Copyright Law of the United States of America Circular R96 - Section 201.20 - Methods of Affixation & Positions of the Copyright Notice on Various Types of Works Circular R99 - Highlights of the Current Copyright Law [Use only the officially printed application form; using photocopies or other reproductions of the application form may delay your registration] ����������������������������ͻ � COPYRIGHT INFORMATION KITS � ����������������������������ͼ Each Copyright Office information kid contains materials on the particular kit's title, including -as appropriate-: circulars, announcements, and application forms. When ordering, "indicate kit number". Books....................................109 Cartons..................................111 Computer Programs........................113 Contributions/Collective Works...........104 Copyright Searches.......................116 Drama....................................119 Fair Use.................................102 Games....................................108 General Visual Arts......................115 International Copyright..................100 Mask Works...............................120 Mini Copyright Information Kit...........118 Motion Pictures..........................110 Multi Media Kits.........................112 Music....................................105 Photographs..............................107 Poetry...................................106 Pseudonyms...............................101 Recipes..................................122 Renewals.................................117 Serials..................................114 Sound Recordings.........................121 Useful Articles..........................103 *The above circulars/forms are supplied by the Copyright Office free of charge.* Request circulars and forms by writing: Copyright Office Publications Section, LM 455 Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 20559 Public Information Office telephone number: (202) 707-3000 -Use this number whenever you want general copyright information or have questions relating to copyright registration. Recorded information is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and information specialists are on duty from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday-Friday except holidays. The FORMS HOTLINE number is (202) 707-9100. -Use the Hotline number (also available 24 hours a day) to request application forms for registration or informational circulars if you know which forms or circulars you want. [If you are unsure which form or circular to order, call the Public Information Office number listed above.] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= COPYRIGHT FEES INCREASE The Copyright Fees and Technical Amendments Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-318) increases fees for Copyright Office services effective January 3, 1991. This act marks the first adjustment of the fee schedule since January 1, 1978. Copyright fees are adjusted at 5-year intervals, based on increases or decreases in the Consumer Price Index. The next adjustment is due in 1995. Contact the Copyright Office in January 1995 for the new fee schedule. The fee for registration of an original, supplementary, or renewal claim is nonrefundable, whether or not copyright registration is ultimately made. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=