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Written by : Benedict Pierpoint |
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hi i'm stan muller this is crash course intellectual property and today we're going to be talking about copyright law as you might have guessed the law of copyright relates to the right to copy the copyright as it relates to copies of copyrightable works you copy right so the right to copy or reproduce copyright protected works is only one of the exclusive rights granted by the law of copyright we're also going to discuss what types of things can actually be copyrighted what we call the subject matter but first let's talk a little bit about the history of copyright law in the united states why the united states not because the u.s is exceptional and not because i'm a cultural imperialist trying to erode the identity and fabric of foreign nations mostly it's just because we're making this video in the united states and copyright law is territorial so in 1709 england passed the statute of anne which is widely considered to be the first copyright law the statute of anne was the first law to grant ownership rights to individual authors rather than to publishers or printers throughout the 18th century several of the american colonies adopted copyright and copyright-like laws based on the statute of anne the drafters of the u.s constitution inserted what is commonly called the intellectual property clause in article 1 section 8 clause 8 and reads the congress shall have the power to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive rights to their respective writings so listed right up there with congress's power to lay and collect taxes and to declare war and to gather armies is the power to promote the progress of learning and knowledge through the grant of a limited monopoly to authors and inventors in the form of copyrights and patents it is without question the coolest of the congressional powers stan does that seem biased oh i'm stan uh mark does that seem biased no good the law has undergone several major revisions in the past 225 years and it's currently in the process of a major review so let's talk about what types of works are eligible for copyright protection and what rights authors or owners have in those works copyright law protects original works of authorship originality in the context of copyright means only that the work owes its origin to the author that is it's independently created and isn't copied from other works how creative do these original works have to be though not very at all for work to be copyrightable there only needs to be a minimal amount of creativity adult judges in court have described it as a scintilla a dab even a glimmer so why is the bar for creativity set so low well it's because lawmakers and judges probably aren't the best people to decide what types of creative works promote the progress of knowledge supreme court justice oliver wendell holmes said it would be a dangerous undertaking for persons trained only to the law to constitute themselves judges of the worth of pictorial illustrations outside of the narrowest and most obvious limits holmes may have been speaking specifically about pictorial illustrations in this case but the principle applies to any type of creative work anyway holmes clearly feels that judges don't necessarily make the best art critics so what does holmes mean by narrow and obvious limits well words and short phrases like names john green titles like the fault in our stars slogans one sick love story fonts coloring mere listings of ingredients or contents familiar symbols or designs like an eight ball none of this is protectable under copyright law are they protected by any other branch of intellectual property ask again later one quick note in order for a work to be protected by copyright it need not in and of itself promote the progress of science from literary novels to the most graphic pornography it's probably protectable the courts have concluded that it isn't a question of whether a work promotes the progress of knowledge but that all works are granted equal protection in this way the law encourages people to create a diverse array of stuff at the end of the day it's the system that promotes the progress of science and not the individual works copyright law protects original works of authorship works of authorship fall into any of the eight categories that are listed in the copyright act literary works are basically anything that can be embodied by letters or numbers including novels blogs computer programs websites databases and possibly really creative tweets musical works refers to the actual musical notation of a song by say t swizzy sound recordings are the actual music embodied in the record or the cd or an mp3 and it extends to things like audiobooks that's what you actually hear dramatic works which are basically stage productions like wicked or cats or waiting for godot pantomimes and choreographic works pictorial graphic and sculptural works motion pictures and even architectural works all of these are considered to be writings congress has indicated that this list isn't exhaustive and it's vague on purpose because humans are coming up with new ways to express themselves all the time believe it or not this is not the apex of human creativity so imagining the guggenheim or a mime routine as writing can feel like a stretch in order for any of these works to be considered bona fide writings in the constitutional sense they must be fixed in any tangible medium of expression be that a book an mp3 source code choreography a blueprint or whatever the only requirement for a tangible medium of expression is that we as humans either on our own or by using a computer or some other device be able to perceive it in the form of a copy or record this brings up a widely misunderstood aspect of copyright copyright protection extends to the intangible material the literary work not the physical copy of the work you may own the copy of the book but you don't own the copyright also copyright extends only to expression and not to ideas if you come up with a million dollar idea for the best movie ever made or the greatest novel in history until you actually write these masterpieces and fix them in a tangible medium copyright law doesn't protect you and you can't copyright facts let's say you do some research and discover that matthew buchinger was born in germany on june 3rd 1674 without hands or legs he was a famous artist calligrapher and magician he was called the little man of nuremberg and the greatest german living and he was married four times fathered at least 14 children by eight different women even if you spend your entire academic career uncovering these fascinating facts facts alone aren't copyrightable a biography of bookinger would qualify for copyright protection but only the narrative expression would qualify subsequent biographers could use the facts you uncovered in your research but would be prohibited from expressing those facts using your words they'd have to make up their own sounds of fair or scenes that must be done are not copyrightable either these are well-worn storylines like a pai
Thanks for your comment Jc Mier, have a nice day.
- Benedict Pierpoint, Staff Member
whether you're a local artist composing your own music or a massive studio filming the next blockbuster all creators should understand how copyright public domain and fair use affect their work although these legal concepts can be somewhat confusing we are here to break things down into easily understood language keep in mind that this video should not be taken as legal advice also we'll be focusing on copyright in the United States copyright is the concept that original works such as writing photos or music belong to the people who create them and that you cannot use copy modify or publish that work without permission if you violate copyright it's called copyright infringement and you may face steep consequences such as lawsuits or criminal charges the vast majority of movies music books photos and other types of popular media are protected by copyright generally those copyrights last for the lifetime of the creator plus 70 years after their death however the duration of a copyright can vary due to its publication date and ever-changing copyright laws when a work has no copyright protection it enters the public domain content in the public domain can be used modified and published without permission or restriction this includes all works published prior to 1923 as well as works with expired copyrights creators can also place their content in the public domain if they desire although you normally need permission to use copyrighted material in your own work there is an exception called fair use fair use allows you to use brief portions of copyrighted works without permission for certain types of use such as criticism teaching or news reporting however fair use can get tricky for instance you may not be able to claim fair use if you use the copyrighted work for a commercial purpose or take too much of it when in doubt always respect the creator's copyright and use as much of your own material as possible to avoid issues although copyright public domain and fair use can seem like giant complicated subjects you should now have a better understanding of the basics GCF global creating opportunities for a better life
Thanks Alexis your participation is very much appreciated
- Benedict Pierpoint
About the author
I've studied islamic law at Idaho State University in Pocatello and I am an expert in astrobotany. I usually feel awake. My previous job was gas plant operator I held this position for 20 years, I love talking about air sports and observing birds. Huge fan of Edward Norton I practice synchronized swimming and collect film posters.
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