At a recent communications conference, GAIL E. ROSS, of the law offices of LICHTMAN, TRISTER, SINGER & ROSS, a Washington, DC, law firm specializing in copyright law, presented "Copyrights and Wrongs on the Information Superhighway: Opportunities and Obstacles." Information includes identifying your delivery system and the type of information you are sending; determining document control (ownership); and pointers on protecting copyright. She went into great detail on the document ownership/control issue. We have a copy of the handout from this session that we'll be happy to share with you. It is only an outline, but may provide points you'd like to expand upon, or generate new questions to ask this firm or others well versed in copyright law. Jodi Horigan Ag Box 0906 Editor, CSREES Update Washington, DC 20250-0907 and CONNEX Internet: jhorigan@reeusda.gov Telephone: 202-720-6145 Fax: 202-690-0289 *************************************************************** COPYRIGHTS AND WRONGS ON THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY: OPPORTUNITIES AND OBSTACLES Presented by GAIL E. ROSS, Law Offices of Lichtman, Trister, Singer and Ross, 1666 Connecticut Avenue, NW., Suite 500, Washington, DC 20009; Voice: 202-326-1666; fax: 202-328-9162. Important: The Copyright Office (202) 707-3000 for questions (202) 707-9100 (24 hours a day) Introduction I. Identifying you Vehicle and Route (delivery system) on the Information Superhighway a. CD-ROM b. commercial on-line services c. Internet (home page, hyper-links, bbs) d. databases e. combinations of the above II. Identifying Your Cargo a. text b. photographs c. graphics d. video e. audio/music f. multi-media (all or some of the above) III. Determining Whether You Own (or control) the Cargo You Want to Take Along Copyright Basics A. Copyright automatically protects original works containing more than a minimum amount of creativity, that are fixed in a tangible form. 1. originally - not much needed eg. selecting and arranging pre-existing works allows selector/arranger to have a copyright in the new work 2. fixation 3. authorship Our copyright law does not protect ideas, facts, titles. slogans, listing of contents, procedures, theories (unless theory is expressed in a book - the book can be copy righted. B. Term of Copyright. While registration with the Copyright Office is optional, it is beneficial for several reasons. The creator has a copyright interest the moment the work is "fixed". For works created after January 1, 1978, the term of copyright is the life of the author plus fifty years, unless its a work for hire where the term is seventy-five years from publication or one hundred years from creation, whichever is shorter. For works created by two or more authors the term is fifty years after the death of the last surviving author. For works created before January 1, 1978, but prior to that date was neither published nor registered with the Copyright Office, the duration of the copyright will computed as if it as created after Jan. 1, 1978. For all other works, the copyright term is 28 years from the date of publication or registration and is eligible for a renewal period of 28 years or 47 years depending on the circumstances. C. Under our copyright law, the copyright owner has the exclusive right to: 1. reproduce the work (copy, duplicate, transcribe or imitate) 2. distribute copies of the work by sale, rental, lease or lending (uploading or downloading/The White Paper) 3. perform the work publicly (recite, play dance, act, show or transmit) 4. display the work publicly (show copies directly or by means of film or slide etc.) 5. prepare derivative works based on the work (modifications\ that create a new work) D. MORAL RIGHTS (limiting the modification of the work and use of the creator's name without permission) a European notion. Right to be sure what they create is not changed. E. Copyright Ownership 1. The creator 2. Joint Works 3. Work Made for Hire i. employees within the scope of his or her employment ii. independent contractors with a signed work for hire agreement if the work for hire agreement if the work is either: a. contribution to a collective work b. motion picture or other audio-visual work c. instructional text d. translation e. test f. answer material for a test g. a compilation h. atlas i. supplementary work Now that we understand the basics of copyright ownership, we can begin to sort out what types of permissions or licenses we need to proceed on our journey. It is key to remember that just as you can only take advantage of whatever rights have been granted to you, you can only grant to a third-party (eg. a database, producer, etc.) those rights that you control. F. Using Material When No Grant of Rights or Permission is Necessary 1. U.S. Government Works 2. public domain materials 3. Fair Use a. purpose and character of use b. nature of copyrighted work ` c. amount and substantiality of portion used in relation to whole work d. effect of use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work G. Uses Beyond Fair Use: Identifying Owners and Obtaining Rights 1. Do you own the work you want to use? Created by employees or were rights granted to you by contract (oral or written)? Tasini case, Nagel case, "rights now known or later developed" cases 2. Do you know who the owner is? 3. Finding Hard to Find Owners. A. contacting publishers B. contacting studios C. contacting stock houses D. contacting film libraries E. using the interned and other digital resources F. using a search firm G. using the U.S. Copyright office 4. Getting Licenses or Releases a. obtaining all the rights you need i. platforms ii. territories iii duration iv. warranties and indemnities v. assignment (all rights transferred) versus license (a transfer of less than complete ownership) EXAMPLE: To obtain all the rights you need in a particular musical recording you may need a license for some or all of the below: 1. mechanical rights 2. synchronization rights 3. public performance rights 4. sound recording rights III. ONCE SAFELY ON THE HIGHWAY, ENSURING YOUR RIDE IS SAFE AND SMOOTH A. Protecting Your Copyright in Your New Work - Notice and Registration 1. Notice not required but highly advisable. In electronic environment, put it at the beginning of visually perceptible printouts, or at the user's terminal, either at sign-on or continuous display. 2. Registration with the U.S. Copyright office is not required but key advantages include: a. necessary to file infringement suit b. statutory damages/attorney fees c. presumption of valid copyright B. Liability for Infringement (innocent and otherwise) Playboy case C. Other Issues: 1. unfair competition 2. trademark 3. patent--need rights to the program code/engine usually copyright but some may be protected by patent 4. trade secrets 5. union and guild issues 6. defamation 7. obscenity/indecency 8. right of privacy/right of publicity 9. moral rights