Copyright laws exist to provide authors who create an original work exclusive rights to that material, and protection from others utilizing their work for financial or intellectual gain. Copyright law originated in the early 17th century, and, along with trademarks and patents, is considered an intellectual property right. Copyright laws are fairly standard across the globe, allowing copyrights for periods up to approximately one hundred years before a work is then considered to have passed into the public domain, freely available for all to use. The growth of the Internet and digital mediums allowing access to material on a massive scale has led to copyright and plagiarism becoming hotly contested issues in the first decades of the 21st century. The following are a set of resources exploring copyright law and related issues in more depth.
Copyright Act Overview
The core principles of copyright law in the United States are laid out in the federal statute of the Copyright Act of 1976. This act act prohibits the unauthorized copying of a work, but not of the ideas contained within. This is an important distinction. While the description of an object cannot be copied without authorization, the object itself can be. All works automatically receive protection under the Copyright Act, but there are advantages to registering the copyright with the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress, and it is recommended to do so.
An Overview of the Copyright Act: An examination of the essentials of the 1976 Copyright Act with further reading and other resources.
Copyright FAQ: A detailed resource covering all copyright issues at Stanford University.
Summary of the Copyright Act: An easy to understand guide to U.S. Copyright laws.
What is Copyright?: The United States Patent and Trademark Office gives an overview of the differences between copyright, patents and trademarks and what the Copyright Act covers.
Fair Use Guidelines
Fair Use is a principle of copyright law in the United States that enables, without first acquiring permission from the holder of the rights, limited uses of copyrighted material. It legalizes citing or incorporating another author's work into your own if your use of the material in some form transforms it, rather than being simply derivative. Fair use mainly exists to protect areas such as teaching and other academic materials, critical and research works and journalism.
Copyright and Fair Use: The U.S. Government website on copyright provides its definition of fair use.
Guidelines for Fair Use: This article examines fair use from a student perspective.
Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia: This website gives an overview of the findings of the 1998 Conference on Fair Use, and how it applies in an academic setting.
What Constitutes Fair Use?: Westminster College provides a useful break-down of what does and does not constitute fair use.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of another author's work, or closely imitating it, and then presenting it as your own. It is not the same as infringing copyright, as you are not violating their copyright by using their material without consent, but instead appropriating that material to add to your own reputation. Plagiarism is considered to be a form of fraud in both academia and journalism, and those found to have plagiarized are often met with heavy censure and possible punishments. The growth of the Internet, and the unparallelled access to material it provides, have turned plagiarism into a central issue in copyright in the 21st century.
What is Plagiarism?: A detailed definition of plagiarism for students and other interested parties.
Plagiarism: How to Recognize and Avoid it: An overview of the essential issues involved in plagiarism.
Plagiarism and Students: An examination of plagiarism from a students perspective, and why it matters in academia.
Avoiding Plagiarism: The U.S. Government provides a free online course looking at ethical issues in writing.
Public Domain
Works are considered to be in the public domain if copyright has expired, never been claimed or the work is by its nature not covered under copyright law. Public domain can be difficult to define, but in practice it means that works labeled public domain are free of copyright restrictions and freely available for the public to use. An example would be the works of pre-20th century authors, which are no longer under copyright.
What is the Public Domain?: The University of California provides an overview of the concept of the public domain in copyright, with practical examples.
Center for the Study of the Public Domain: A large resource for information on all issues pertaining to public domain works.
Promoting the Public Domain: A website devoted to public domain issues and battling copyright extension.
The Decline in the Public Domain: A graphical demonstration off the declining growth of works in the public domain over the last two centuries.
Obtaining Copyright
Under the Copyright Act of 1976, all original works of authorship are automatically granted copyright protection, as long as they meet a basic definition of originality. This work must be stored in a “fixed” medium that be communicated, perceived or reproduced. Copyright is one of the most common intellectual property rights granted in the United States. Obtaining copyright permission to use all or part of a work is a more complicated process, and requires written permission from the copyright holder if they can be located.
Obtaining Copyright Protection for your Works: A discussion of the steps needed to obtain and assert copyright of a piece of work.
How to Obtain Copyright Ownership: A walk-through of the copyrighting process.
Information on Obtaining Copyright Permission: A guide to obtaining permission to use copyrighted works geared towards the academic community.
Obtaining Permissions: A series of articles detailing how to obtain permission for use of a copyrighted work.
Copyright Law is an important part of modern society, one that raises many issues and leads to great debate. In an increasingly digital future, the concepts of copyright, plagiarism and public domain may see profound changes in how society views intellectual ownership, and copyright laws may have to alter to accommodate this. Knowledge of copyright laws remains vital for teachers, students, journalists and anyone involved in the creation of intellectual works.
