Copyright
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==How long does copyright last for?== | ==How long does copyright last for?== | ||
| − | The duration of copyright protection varies, depending on the country and the nature of the work, but it's reasonable to assume that copyright will protect a work long after the death of its author. This is an odd change in the intent of copyright law, since it was originally devised to allow authors a set period of time in which they exclusively can profit from their work. U.S copyright law, originally enacted in | + | The duration of copyright protection varies, depending on the country and the nature of the work, but it's reasonable to assume that copyright will protect a work long after the death of its author. This is an odd change in the intent of copyright law, since it was originally devised to allow authors a set period of time in which they exclusively can profit from their work. U.S copyright law, originally enacted in 1790, provided fourteen years of protection that could extended for a further fourteen years.<ref>[http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/firsts/copyright/ Original U.S. Copyright law of 1790]</ref> |
Current copyright law for written works in the U.S. last until the author's death, plus seventy years. Copyright law was originally intended to encourage the creation of works, and studies have shown that authors normally stop writing when they're dead. | Current copyright law for written works in the U.S. last until the author's death, plus seventy years. Copyright law was originally intended to encourage the creation of works, and studies have shown that authors normally stop writing when they're dead. | ||
Revision as of 23:53, 27 September 2009
- To see RationalWiki's copyright battle against Andrew Schlafly, click here.
- For Conservapedia's Copyright Policy and our comments on it, click here
Copyright is the concept - and in most modern countries, the law - that when someone creates a text, piece of music, or other creative endeavor, they initially own the rights to any revenues derived therefrom. In the United States, copyright law is amended every few years to protect the heirs of Walt Disney from ever losing their copyright on Mickey Mouse. Still, God's copyright on the universe, and even on earth, have expired everywhere. Feel free to make copies at will. It is rumoured that God still holds patents on life, although this is yet to be tested in a court of law. In the practice of law, trademark and copyright enforcement are referred to as "soft intellectual property litigation," since they tend to implicate only legal knowledge and liberal arts-based skills. This "soft" distinction is constructed in opposition to patent litigation, which often requires scientific knowledge, even from lawyers.
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How long does copyright last for?
The duration of copyright protection varies, depending on the country and the nature of the work, but it's reasonable to assume that copyright will protect a work long after the death of its author. This is an odd change in the intent of copyright law, since it was originally devised to allow authors a set period of time in which they exclusively can profit from their work. U.S copyright law, originally enacted in 1790, provided fourteen years of protection that could extended for a further fourteen years.[1]
Current copyright law for written works in the U.S. last until the author's death, plus seventy years. Copyright law was originally intended to encourage the creation of works, and studies have shown that authors normally stop writing when they're dead.
What does copyright law protect?
Copyright law is about protecting the implementation of a work. The novel The Return of The King is can be protected by copyright law, but this would not prevent someone from writing an oddly similar story, so long as it's not a case of lifting characters and/or locations from the original novel. Some elements of published works may also be protected by trademark law, making it illegal to write a novel featuring a heavy breathing character named Darth Vader.
Publishers and authors vary in their acceptance of derivative works, such as fan fiction, but it's reasonable to assume that Lucasfilm would frown upon the creation of a pornographic story featuring Darth Vader screwing an ewok.
How is a work protected by copyright?
The Bern Convention requires that all copyrightable works be automatically protected by copyright law. This is an almost worldwide agreement, with very few countries yet to sign. There is no requirement to label a work as being protected by copyright, nor is there a need to legally register its existence, but both steps are a sensible precaution for works of substantial worth. Some people have suggested that authors post themselves a copy of their work, leaving the envelope/package sealed, in order to prove that the work existed at the date shown by the post mark. This is not guaranteed to be considered by a court of law, so a conversation with a lawyer would seem the safer option.
Copyright feeds starving artists
While authors do normally benefit from the commercialisation of their works, creative artists usually, in their struggle to maintain the mind-body connection, often sign away most of these rights in the hope of getting paid at some point, after whoever they sign them away to makes enough money. This is worth remembering when record labels complain that piracy is taking money away from artists. In reality, most artists earn a tiny percentage from the sales of their works.