What is copyright?
As soon as a person creates an original and creative work that is in some fixed form, he or she owns copyright in that work. A work is considered to be in a “fixed form” when it is documented in some perceptible medium (whether directly perceptible or perceptible with the aid of a machine or device) it can’t just be an idea in someone’s head. Examples of “fixed forms” include sound recordings or musical notation of the work. Once the work has been documented in a fixed form, the person who created it has the exclusive ownership of a “bundle” of rights with regard to that work. These rights include: the right to reproduce the work, the right to sell and distribute the work, the right to publicly perform the work, and the right to create derivative works. A derivative work is a modification of an original work. For example, if you write a song and then later write new lyrics for that song or re-record it with different instrumentation, you have created a derivative work.
Copyright is the legal principle that protects your original creative work, and that grants the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, publish, sell and create a derivative work based upon it. A derivative work is any adaptation or modification to a work such as making a painting from a photograph. Having an exclusive right means that no one can use your work without permission (with a few exceptions).
Copyright law protects literary and artistic works by giving copyright holders the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute or perform. For example, software code can be protected by copyright. However, copyright registration (http://www.loc.gov/copyright) is optional: all works covered by the law have copyright protection for the author’s life plus 70 years. Acid test: Is the thing I’m trying to protect covered under copyright law? Your site’s content is protected by copyright law automatically. However, you should reinforce your ownership by placing the logo after online content, perhaps adding “all rights reserved.” This tells others they can’t simply use or reword original content without permission.
Copyright is the legal protection given to the creator of an original work. It is the exclusive rights inherent in a creative work and granted by the Copyright Law of any nation to the creator of an original work. Copyright Law also prohibits certain acts in relation to such work.Original works are copyrighted upon its creation. It is not necessary to register or deposit such material as it enjoys protection under the copyright laws immediately upon creation. Ideas cannot be copywritten. Copyrighted materials must be expressed in order to be protected under the law either in written form such as a poem or a novel or in music recorded to some format such as cassette tapes, or CD or record.
The Copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyright material. There is a provision for “fair use” by libraries. In 1976, a government commission was convened to interpret what “fair use,” meant. This interpretation is known as the CONTU guidelines. Simmons College follows the CONTU guidelines. Interlibrary loan is allowed five articles from any one journal title for a one-year period. After this limit is reached, the library must pay a royalty fee for each subsequently ordered article.
