Copyrights

Copyright, a collection of exclusive rights given to the creator of any original content, is a set of rights that prohibits any other person or organization from using that content to their own advantage. Copyright only protects the content and its representation, not the idea itself. A copyright owner can transfer or license their rights to others.

Also a copyright can protect a document from misuse only for a particular amount of time. Throughout this time and only this specified time, the owner has the rights over the copying and distribution of his original works. After this the work enters ‘the public domain’ meaning that the work is not an intellectual property of anyone anymore and the copyright has either expired or forfeited.

The copyright law, as opposed to its earlier application to prevent the copying of books only, now covers an extensive span of works, such as, paintings, computer related programs, motion pictures, photographs, music and sound recordings, to name a few. Sometimes organizations are allowed to use other organization's original content without the permission of the copyright owner, but only under the fair usage policy.

Laws are different in different countries; hence in order to obtain a copyright on original content requires an organization to notify about 20 other countries for the work to be protected. Earlier in US, till the year 1989, all works had to have a copyright notice on them, which is the copyright symbol: © (the circumcised ‘C’) followed by the name of the copyright owner and date at which the copyright was obtained. However, after 1989 this was no longer necessary.

In countries which are members of the ‘Berne Convention (Protection of Literary and Artistic Works)’, obtaining copyright is not necessary as it is automatic and does not require any official registration. The rights-holder can enforce their own set of exclusive rights on their original content. The office registration was not necessary; however, the right-holder must have a legitimate proof that the content is their own.

The rights granted by Copyright

Copyright originally only prevented the unauthorized copying and distribution of the work and this had its loopholes. For example, any one could use an original piece of work for public performances, translation or use it as an adaptation for some other work and sell it as his own. The definition of copyright has become more comprehensive over time and covers a number of derivatives like translation, adaptation, etc.

The Term of Copyright

The term of the copyright varies in accordance with a number of factors like the country of origin, if the work has been created by a corporation or a person, whether the work has been published, the type of work (painting, novel, computer program, etc) and many more. Generally, the term of a copyright is the lifetime of the owner plus 50 to 70 years after his death. This term varies as per the aforementioned factors. For instance if the work belongs to an organization then the copyright lasts for 95 years after being published or 120 years after creation( whichever is less); for photography it lasts for only 25 years; the copyright in some countries expires within one calendar year.

Limitations and Exceptions of Copyright

There are certain situations where the copyright laws or rights given to a person do not apply. In cases like these, the need to seek permission from the copyright holder is not required. Some of these cases are research, news reports, teachings or anything that lies in the public interest, etc.