Agenda

• What is Copyright?

• What Can Be Copyrighted?

• How Long Does Copyright Last?

• What is in the Public Domain?

• What is Fair Use?

• Alternatives to Copyright

• Copyright in the News (MP3s, Copyright Extension)

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....... ,__ ,__ If There is No Copyright. ..

• The main motive for creative endeavors (money) disappears. If authors can't make a living writing, most will not write. If a record company can't profit from a band, they will sign fewer bands and cut loose the money losers .

• If copyright exists but can't be enforced, the above still happens eventually. The end result is less creative content and hard to pirate distribution methods become preferred like print and closed databases.

What Can Be Protected?

• Literary Works

• Musical Works

• Dramatic Works

• Choreographic Work

• Pictorial, Graphic, and Sculptural Works

• Motion Pictures and AV

• Sound Recordings

• Architectural Works

How Long Does Copyright Last?

• A copyright last for life plus 70 years for individuals for anything on or after 1978.

• A copyright lasts for 95 years for corporate authors after publication for anything on or after 1978. (It is 120 years after creation if not published.)

• Works published before 1978 and after 1923 are protected for 95 years.

Public Domain

• Anything in the public domain is useable by anyone in any way that they want. No one owns it.

• Everything published before 1923 is in the public domain.

• US federal works are in the public domain.

• Authors can choose to put work in the public domain by including a notice that the item is in the public domain.

More Fair Use

• You can use excerpts from a book to write a review of it. However, you can't reproduce whole chapters of the book for reviewing purposes without permission.

• A class dealing with film studies can screen a movie without payment for study purposes. However, no admission can be charged and only students in the class can attend the screening.

• Difficult area that can get people in trouble.

Consult an attorney if you are in doubt ...

MP3 Files

• And of course, the widespread piracy of music and movies has resulted in a crackdown by the respective industries .

• The whole MP3 issue (and the bad attitudes which consumers have towards copyright) has convinced many publishers to distribute content in copy protected or non-computerized forms. Print is not dying ... it is making a comeback.

Read ...

• Please read the following short articles:

• Courthouse Rock by Steve Levy and

• Out of Tune by Barney Gimbel and Sarah Childress.

• Will suing pirates work to stop piracy?

• Is the music industry out of touch with consumers?

• Does it matter mora Ily?