Copyright law is fundamental to the protection of literary, artistic, dramatic, musical, graphic arts, and other creations. Copyright does not protect ideas by themselves, but rather the expression of original ideas in some tangible medium such as a canvas, piece of marble, high definition digital video tape, 35mm film, etc. A copyright is the exclusive right given by federal statute to the creator of a literary or an artistic work to use, reproduce, and display the work. The creator of the work has a limited monopoly on the work and can, with some exceptions, prohibit others from copying or displaying the work. Copyright law protects such works as writing, music, artwork, and computer programs.
A copyright gives one the exclusive right to use or reproduce a literary, artistic, dramatic, audiovisual or musical work, or a computer program for the creator’s life plus 50 years. If a work is a “work made for hire,” this means that a person was hired specifically to create the copyrighted work. The employer of the creator of the work can register the copyright and is entitled to protection for 100 years from creation or 75 years from publication, whichever is less. Once a copyright expires, it is in the public domain and no longer has protection. Works created by the federal government are also in the public domain.
A copyright is obtained simply by creating the work. It comes into existence automatically on the dated it is created. However, in order to get federal protection of a copyright, you have to file two copies of the work with the Copyright Office in Washington, D.C.
Copyright law is designed to create an incentive for creativity by allowing the author to profit from his work. The Act tries to balance this need to protect the author with the public’s need for free and open discussion. A copyright owner has the exclusive right to:
■reproduce the work;
■prepare derivative works such as a script from the original work (ex., movie script for The Rainmaker);
■distribute copies or recordings of the work; and
■publicly display the work in the case of paintings, sculptures and photographs.