Copyright Guidelines

 

I.  Introduction

 

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) provides legal protection for authors of original works, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual products. An author’s copyright in a work arises at the moment the work is created. Publication is not essential for copyright protection. The copyright symbol (©) is also not required for copyright protection to occur, although use of the symbol does grant certain advantages to an author in the event of litigation. An author may transfer copyright ownership to another party. Section 106 of the copyright law grants a copyright owner the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following;

• Reproduce copies of the work.

• Prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work.

• Distribute copies of the work by sale, rental, lease, or lending or by electronic means.

• Publicly perform literary, musical, dramatic or choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works.

• Publicly display literary, musical, dramatic or choreographic works, pantomimes and pictorial, graphic or sculptural works, including individual motion picture or audiovisual images.

• Publicly perform copyrighted sound recordings by means of a digital audio transmission.

 

However, for an author and/or a copyright owner, these rights are not absolute. They are subject to "fair use" limitations, which apply to all media, and medium-specific limitations.

 

In addition, authors of works of fine art have certain other rights including the right to prevent intentional distortion, mutilation, or modification of their works. These rights are specific to the author of the work and are not transferable.




links updated 6/5/08 rab