Copyright Laws Intellectual Property Protection

Copyright Copyright Act of 1976 Prevents the unauthorized copying of a work of authorship A protection that covers published and unpublished works of literary, dramatic, musical, pictorial and certain other intellectual creations, provided such works are fixed in a tangible medium

Copyright Continued Copyright laws grant the creator the exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform and display the work publicly. Exclusive means only the creator of such work, not anybody who has access to it and decides to grab it (Valette, 2000)

When does the copyright protection begin? Copyright protection 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

Registering your Copyright Registering the copyright officially consists of completing an application form, including a nonrefundable filing fee and a nonreturnable deposit of the work being registered all sent in one package to the Office of Copyright of the United States (Valette, 2000)

Extent of the Law Particularly in this age of easy publication to the Web, anyone can “publish” and in doing so, rather than leaving it to the reader’s assumption, make your ownership clear by stating the copyright. Not everyone realizes the extent of this law.

How long does it last? Copyright protection normally endures 70 years after the author’s death In the case of two or more authors it would be 70 years after the last surviving author’s death

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Digital Millennium Copyright Act (Summary) Signed into law by President Clinton on October 28, 1998

Copyright & Distance Education Copyright Office Conducts Study on How to Promote Distance Education through Digital Technologies Copyright Office Conducts Study on How to Promote Distance Education through Digital Technologies Distance Learning and Copyright: Is a Solution in Sight? Distance Learning and Copyright: Is a Solution in Sight? What Colleges and Universities Need to Know about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act What Colleges and Universities Need to Know about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Copyright: A Challenge to Distance Learning Copyright: A Challenge to Distance Learning

Fair Use Is a provision in the copyright law for limited use of a copyrighted work without obtaining the copyright holder’s permission Has the core fundamental belief that not all copying should be banned, particularly in socially important endeavors such as criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research (Tysver, 1996)

Therefore: The idea of fair use includes reproduction of portions of the work for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching scholarship, or research (Bruwelheide, 1997 found in Teaching and Learning at a Distance, Cyrs).

Napster Not being accused of violating copyright itself But rather, “Napster is guilty of tributary copyright infringement which means they are contributing to and facilitating other people’s infringement” (Greenfeld, 2000)

If consumers are not guilty, Napster cannot be guilty Consumers can copy music for their own enjoyment Unlawful if it is done for profit The law does not distinguish between large-scale and small-scale sharing and lending (Greenfeld, 2000)

References: Valette, R. (March 2000). What is Copyright? (Homepage of What is Copyright Protection), (Online). (2000). Available: (2000, April 24). Tysver, Daniel A. (2000-last update). Bitlaw [Copyright page of Bitlaw], [Online]. Available: [2000,]. Bruwelheide, J.H. (1997). Copyright: Opportunities and Restrictions. In Cyrs, T.E. (Ed.), Teaching and Learning at a Distance: What It Takes to Effectively Design, Deliver, and Evaluate Programs (pp ). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Greenfeld, K. T. (2000, October 2). Meet the Napster. Time, 156 (14) Copyright © 2000, Barbara J. Wellenstein. for permission to use: