Understanding Copyright Procedure

BusinessLegal

  • Author Alice Addison
  • Published February 21, 2010
  • Word count 555

COPYRIGHT is a right given by the law to creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and producers of cinematograph films and sound recordings. In fact, it is a bundle of rights including, inter alia, rights of reproduction, communication to the public, adaptation and translation of the work. There could be slight variations in the composition of the rights depending on the work.

The laws of various countries define the scope of the public domain differently, making it necessary to specify which jurisdiction's public domain is being discussed.Furthermore, the public domain can be defined in contrast to several forms of intellectual property; the public domain in contrast to copyrighted works is different from the public domain in contrast to trademarks or patented works.

A non-registered copyright is automatically granted to the author or creator of any original work the instant that work is put in tangible form. In other words, as soon as you have created the work, in a tangible form (such as an article, novel, manuscript, picture, etc).If you created an original work, you automatically hold a copyright on the work.

If a writer earns money from their work, they can earn the funds to keep writing. If an artist earns money from the licensing and manufacturing of images of artwork, they have income so they can invest their time productively in more projects. Furthermore, copyright exists to encourage innovation and prosperity, for society as a whole as well as for the individual doing the innovating.

The Copyright Act, in provisions that are virtually unique in all of American law, allow the author of a copyrighted work can reclaim his or her copyright many decades later by jumping through the right legal hoops at just the right time. Because of these reversion provisions, Mr. Siegel's heirs are in the process of reclaiming the Superman copyright, a process that will result in the multimillion dollar transfer of wealth from Warner Brothers to them.

The laws are so generous in fact that the notes or scribbles you mindlessly make while speaking on the phone are considered copyrighted material, even if you wad it up and toss it in the trash at the end of the call. This does not mean that copyrighting should be taken lightly. There are significant legal advantages to using a copyright notice.Copyrights can also be given away in part or in whole and must be agreed to in writing. The details of this are way beyond the scope of this writing.

Material that is not copyrighted is considered in the public domain. You cannot commit copyright infringement on works in the public domain. These works include things that the copyright has expired on, or is not copyrightable -- such as government publications, jokes, titles, and ideas. Some creators (writers, musicians, artists, and more) deliberately put their work in the public domain, without ever obtaining copyright, by providing an affiliation with Creative Commons.

After you've registered a copyright, you'll receive a certification of registration in hard copy form, making it easy to provide physical proof that you hold legal copyright to your work.In addition to being protected against copyright theft and infringement in the United States, registering a copyright also provides you with protection in certain countries that have adopted a copyright agreement with the United States.

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