User:Hgantunez
This page was created by Giovanni Antunez - assignment II Creative Commons Certificate Course Fall 2020
The Basics of Copyright Law - The Right after the Copy – Copyright © First of all, I wanted to play with the words, saying that it is important to remember that the “right” to “copy” is giving credit to its author. Given credit to an author, is the right thing to do.
1. What is the purpose of copyright at all? The main reason for copyright law to exist is to protect creative works. These works can be books (the most common work associated with the word, copyright), media (films, videos, etc.), art (in all forms, paintings, music, sculptors, etc.), and multiple other forms of original creation. Actually, one of the most common words associated with copyright law is the word, 'original,' originality defines the work of an author. But, what about the work that has been copied, reused, or, adapted? The answer to this question is one of the reasons we are discussing here the basics of copyright law. As our class content states:"Copyright law is the area of law that limits how others may use the original works of authors (or creators, as we often call them) — works spanning the spectrum from novels and operas, to cat videos, to scribbles on a napkin"."Copyright Basics" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0. Giovanni Antunez adapted content from the Creative Commons Certificate Course Unit 2.1 on copyright law, adding it to his Wikibook on the Basics of Law.[1]
The purpose of copyright and the creative commons movement. As it is the default for copyright law that "all rights reserved", creative commons changed the purpose to "some rights reserved", and this has been done with the intention that authors can continue creating their work but at the same share with others, and allow others to reuse their production under certain conditions. These conditions have been defined the Creative Commons licenses that are currently in use, and that can be used for reuse of already produced materials, or, creative works. "Copyright Law" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0. Giovanni Antunez adapted/paraphrased content from the Creative Commons Certificate Course Unit 2. Copyright law, adding it to his Wikibook on the Basics of Law.[2] So far, it is clear that Creative Commons don't pretend to abolish the copyright laws. On the contrary, it wants to promote, and cultivate the sharing of knowledge, and creative works among others, so, more can be generated, and renovated, and re-created.
2. On the other hand, there is another important question to keep in mind: what is copyrightable and what is not? The answer to this question can be found by looking at the sources of information that will inform the consumer of what is copyrightable, or, free to copy, free to modify, free to reuse, and so on. At this point and with the intention to set the context that will answer the major question here, there is need for question, which is also a distinction, are 'ideas' copyrightable, if ideas are free, then, they don't need to be copyrighted. However, ideas that end in the production of works of art, literature, sciences, inventions, etc., will be copyrightable. This main argument has been stated very clear in the content of the readings for the Creative Commons certificate, which reads: "Copyright does not protect facts or ideas themselves, only the expression of those facts or ideas."[3] As it has been discussed here, not all works are copyrightable, especially, the world of ideas, which is great, because ideas exist to be shared. A world without ideas will be a dull one.
3.In order to add to the discussion of the topic of copyright law, there is need for another question: "what is the relationship between copyright and other methods of protecting intellectual property? Copyright is as the gold standard to protect intellectual property, and it is probably the most well-known method. But as the section 2.4 in the creative commons course states: "Copyright is not absolute. There are some uses of copyrighted works that do not require permission. These uses are limitations on the exclusive rights normally granted to copyright holders and are known as “exceptions and limitations” to copyright.[4]
Expanding on these exceptions and limitations mentioned above, it is probably useful to present some examples, and where in the world these concepts apply, or, are followed. As a Wikipedia article cites: "Two important examples of limitations and exceptions to copyright are the fair use doctrine found in the United States, and the fair dealing doctrine found in many other common law countries." "Limitations and exceptions to copyright"[5] In order to add to the discussion of the topic of copyright law, there is need for another question: "what is the relationship between copyright and other methods of protecting intellectual property? Copyright is as the gold standard to protect intellectual property, and it is probably the most well-known method.
Although the concept of 'fair use', is not as simple as it sound, it basically a doctrine in the United States law that allows the use of copyrighted material without the need to ask first for permission from the person/institution/publisher company etc., who is the copyright holder. On the other hand, the concept of 'fair dealing' basically means that depending on the purpose of the use, the amount used of the original work, and also, the overall impact on the market of this original work; the individual using the original work to produce its own is protected by a general exception of the copyright law. The fair dealing is commonly used in countries that have a British legal history. In conclusion, 'fair use' and 'fair dealing' are examples of exemptions and limitations of copyright law. [6]
On the other hand, there are at least two "other methods of protecting intellectual property": trademark law and patent law. These are two common methods that are established by law, and that are used to protect the rights of their authors, or, creators (as in the case of companies such as Coca-Cola which is the trademark for a popular cola drink. No one can use the Coca-Cola logo, or, any other imagery related to the product without infringement the trademark law. The patent law protects their creators against a copy, or, reproduction of their inventions, in such cases, the author has a monopoly of its creations. Examples include Apple's cell phone, which is a unique product of Apple, and although there are imitations, there is only one Apple iPhone. Other types of intellectual property rights include trade secrets, publicity rights, and moral rights as a few examples. "Copyright Basics" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0. Giovanni Antunez adapted content for this paragraph from the Creative Commons Certificate Course Unit 2.1 on copyright basics.[7][8]
In general, humans and animals as we see in the picture, an example of imitations, copy behaviors, so, we copy but we called, ‘learning’ because it is more acceptable in the society. An example of an imitation can be seen in the newborn macaques that imitates the researcher. "Evolution of Neonatal Imitation". Gross L, Imitation PLoS Biology Vol. 4/9/2006], CC BY 2.5 [9]
4. At this point, it is time to reflect on the applications to the content discussed above. And, the most valid question is: how a person receives copyright protection for their work? The answer to this question is very important because the protection of author's right is an important step in promoting the Creative Commons movement, because it is not the intention to abolish all rights, but to promote the sharing of creative works. It is important to know that under international law copyright protection is automatic. It is important than authors make it clear that their work is protected under copyright law. An article from Copyrights Witness website, 'How do I protect my work?' recommends at least the following four steps: authors should ensure their work is properly marked; the work is registered, supporting evidence exist, and if there are co-authors, then, have an agreement between co-authors. "How do I protect my work?" from Copyright Witness. Licensed by CC NC ND.[10]How the above mentioned recommendation conciliate, or, work in the context of the Creative Commons vision of sharing, and the promotion of free access. In this context, there is a note I found in the Creative Commons certificate course that reads: "...Creative Commons licenses and public domain tools depend on copyright in order to work." "Exceptions and Limitations to Copyright" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0. Giovanni Antunez cited content from the Creative Commons Certificate Course Unit 2.4. So, it can be said that Creative commons works in conjunction with the current copyright's laws, in the United States, and the rest of the world through international copyright law.[11]
Ultimately given credit to authors for their work is part of the work in a free share society. There is a recent example from the dilemma, who has the property rights for Spider Man (this is the brand name)? Is it Sony pictures or, Disney’s Marvel Entertainment? After several debates, and litigations of ownership, Spider-Man came back to Disney’s Marvel Entertaining. Ryan Faughnder. “Inside the deal that brought Sony’s ‘Spider-Man’ back to Marvel’s cinematic universe” Los Angeles Times, June 26, 2017.[12]From the entertaining industry to any other creative work, given credits to the authors is a social responsibility.
5. The current discussion on copyright law will be incomplete without talking about, the public domain, what is it? "The public domain consists of creative works that are not subject to copyright. This is the pool of publicly available material from which new creativity and knowledge may be built." "The Public Domain" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0. Giovanni Antunez quoted this content from the Creative Commons Certificate Course Unit 2.3 The Public Domain, adding it to his Wikibook on the Basics of Law.[13]In this context, the public domain is like the oceans that are full of water surrounding the earth, they are an immense source of creative works that can be used for pure creation. For this category, a sole creation of license has been created by the Creative Commons movement, it is also a legal tool, and it is called, CC0 ("CC Zero"). This is a great tool that allows creators (authors) to put their works to the service of the public (hence, the name, public domain). "The Public Domain" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0. Giovanni Antunez adapted/paraphrased this content from the Creative Commons Certificate Course Unit 2.3 The Public Domain, adding it to his Wikibook on the Basics of Law.[14]
Finally, to have a mental image of the public domain, I decided to search for public domain logos; and found that there are more than one hundred of them. This large variety of logos provide authors the opportunity to use the logo that better express the purposes of their works. That amount of logos also show that the public domain is very popular these days, and that is a good thing, but has the public domain has been free of controversy? Does it have been accepted always? The answer is no. On the contrary, there has been controversy about the public domain; there has been friends, and enemies of the idea. Some have seen the public domain as a threat to their monopoly, and control of creative works; and others have probably welcomed the public domain as the new era of access to resources that in the past would be never been released of their copyrights. A recent example is the Smithsonian article 'For the First Time in More Than 20 Years, Copyrighted Works Will Enter the Public Domain,' which celebrates that for the first time, celebrated works of the famous photographer, Robert Frost will be made available to the public as public domain. "For the First Time in More Than 20 Years, Copyrighted Works Will Enter the Public Domain" Glenn Fleishman Smithsonian Magazine, Jan. 2019.[15]This is only one example of the many other that express the joy of so many people who has seen the world of the public domain become a reality, especially for those believers, and follows of the Creative Commons movement.
As a conclusion, this essay had covered a brief and concise overview of the following topics: the purpose of copyright, what is copyrightable and what is not, the relationship between copyright and other methods of protecting intellectual property, exemptions to copyright like fair use or fair dealing, how a person receives copyright protection for their work and, the public domain. There is more that can be written, and it should be written about these topics, but for now, this can be seen as a good beginning and it is open for discussion and revisions. Giovanni Antunez September 2020
References:
1. "Copyright Basics" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.
2. "Copyright Law" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.
3.September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.
4."Limitations and exceptions to copyright" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Unported license. CC BY SA 3.0.
5."Exceptions and Limitations to Copyright" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.
6. "Fair use" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.Unported license CC BY SA 3.0
7. "Copyright Basics" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.
8. "Exceptions and Limitations to Copyright" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.
9. "How do I protect my work?" from Copyright Witness. Licensed by CC NC ND.
10. "Evolution of Neonatal Imitation". Gross L, Imitation PLoS Biology Vol. 4/9/2006], CC BY 2.5
11. "Exceptions and Limitations to Copyright" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.
12. "The Public Domain" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.
13."The Public Domain" is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.
14."For the First Time in More Than 20 Years, Copyrighted Works Will Enter the Public Domain" Glenn Fleishman Smithsonian Magazine, Jan. 2019.
'Images'
a) ”Copyrigth symbol” Image created by Giovanni Antunez Wikimedia CommonsLicensed CC BY-SA 4.0]]
b)“I want to be original” Image created by Giovanni Antunez Wikimedia commonsLicensed CC BY-SA 4.0]]
c) “On the other hand” Image created by Giovanni Antunez Wikimedia commons Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0]]
d) “Intellectual property” Image created by Giovanni Antunez Wikimedia commonsLicensed CC BY-SA 4.0]] This work is licensed under CC BY SA 4.0
e) By see Source - Evolution of Neonatal Imitation. Gross L, PLoS Biology Vol. 4/9/2006, e311 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040311, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1480917
f)"Public domain logo". From Public Domain Clipart. Licensed CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)]]