Just recently, thousands of internet users were sued by the Recording Industry Association of America or the RIAA. The charges: copyright issues. It had become evident that many internet users were downloading numerous videos. Most of which were copyright materials. It has been convenient for most people to download our favorite music video or movie and events scenes. Over time, this trend has become common practice until the film and music companies noticed a sharp decrease in sales. These observations prompted the recording industry to file suit against indentifiable users.

Nevertheless, when the counter measures against these down loaders did not deliver their desired results, the RIAA tweaked their arguments a bit. Instead of going after the downloaders, the RIA is not after the uploaders of more than a thousand files in a certain timeframe.

Thus, a letter will be sent to the ISP to regulate their subscribers. This illustrates that the burden of enforcing the copyright law is followed by internet users has been routed to their associated internet service provider. It just make sense; no internet connection, no uploading capabilities. Quite a few of these internet users also make use of internet radio to download the audio portion of these videos.

The same concept goes for YouTube, the 3rd most popular website on the internet (as per Alexa ranking). It has been popular for the videos it plays. It allows internet users to upload at the same time watch videos.

YouTube has faced several controversies even before it became popular on the internet.

Its name even caused controversy because another website that sounds like YouTube filed a lawsuit when their internet site was bombarded with people seeking You Tube. On the coming years, several companies sued them for allegedly failing to promote copyright law by letting its users upload copyright materials. By the looks of it, YouTube can be liable for such accusations.

Some companies have also filed a lawsuit against YouTube claiming that their copyright materials have been violated. In response, there are some nations that have decided to disallow their residents to access it.

YouTube’s main defense is its terms of service which tells users not to upload any material that is owned by others without their express permission. Because YouTube does not have the ability to regulate this behavior and the ability to filter the videos up loaded by its users, numerous versions of copyrighted materials are being uploaded every day. The audio portion can also be heard and downloaded on free online music web sites.

YouTube has stated that the burden of ensuring copyright is protected is left to its holders. There is a form that notifies YouTube if there is suspicion of copyright infringement.

The internet has been a vehicle to advance your purpose, may it be business, personal or recreation. For most of us, watching videos is the most comfortable way of acquiring information. YouTube can be the greatest instrument for this purpose. With the improvement of its validation measures to ensure that it will not imply support for uploading unauthorized copyright, obscene, and violent video clips, being an instrument of communications and media can be possible.

When you hire an artist to create a design for you, you own the product designed once the art work is complete but not the copyright to the design- it still remains the artist’s property as it is his creativity. An authority must be granted by the artist in writing to claim that the copyright has been transferred as well. The payment you make is for his creativity and effort but this does not mean that the design becomes your property. This does not have to be a long, fancy process, simply something in black and white that states the artist has either transferred the copyright to his design or he shares it with you. If you hire the artist as a contractor, you do not own copyrights until there is an agreement but if the designer is your employee, you automatically own copyrights to his design as an employer.

A copyright is the protection provided to an original, tangible form of work in literature, art, drama, music, architecture, design or research work.

It authorizes the owner to claim an infringement in case his work is reproduced, altered, published or broadcasted without his consent. A copyright exists when an idea is put down as an expression on paper or a computer file. It is not necessary to register this copyright except if a lawsuit has to be filed against plagiarism. A registered copy with the United States Copyright Office claims authority of the owner with the date and place of the creation of this work with official stamps. A legal registration provides a public record which makes it easier to prove copyright ownership. This process is much cheaper than the trademark registration and costs around .

The symbol © is also not essential except that it makes it clear that the owner has a registered copyright.

Anyone still willing to use your design or composition must obtain the permission of the owner or face consequences at the court.

Anyone who violates the copyrights of an owner is liable of being summoned to the court for infringing the copyright. If the owner already has a registered product, the infringer will pay not only the damages to the sales and loss on profit but also the attorney fee. But if the copyright is not registered, the defendant only pays the damages to sales and loss on profit to the claimant.

The hardest part is finding people who violate your rights especially in the T-shirt industry. As it is a very big industry and many people on small and large scales are engaged in T-shirt printing, it is difficult to know if your design is being copied. Many of these manufacturers have no trademarks and no registrations. That is what makes it hard to track them.

When creating a new website, the first consideration you must have is the violation of someone else’s property. If you seek copyright protection for own projects, you must be aware that the others will be conscious of their security too. Consulting a lawyer before copying or even considering someone else’s work for inspiration, is preferred.

The United States Copyright Act gives authority to a copyright owner in six categories. Only the owner can reproduce his copyrightable work, anyone else doing so without his consent is liable of punishment under the copyright act; adapt his work or make any changes, whether it be additions or omissions, it is only the right of the owner himself; for distributing the work in public as books, pamphlets or banners, the concerned publisher must seek permission from the owner; any public performances such as speech, drama, film is the sole right of the owner alone; displaying work as exhibitions or art pieces also needs the owner’s consent; broadcasting the work on radio or playing music on the loudspeaker is again a violation if it is not brought into the owner’s notice.

Trademark infringement is using someone else’s sound, logo, word or phrase in an obvious or confusing manner for similar goods or services.

If you use another authority’s trademark, people must not mistake your product to be the same as the other’s; it should be used appropriately with legal advice.

Logos and trademarks of another company must only be used if direly required. Otherwise, if you can express and promote your product without any such help, it will be rather helpful.

No matter how much you try to alter someone else’s work or presentation, it can still be identified and you can be charged for copyright violation.

Nominative fair use is a safer way to use a trademark or logo. This is used when you are selling a product through a store or online, and you use a trademark to describe or identify you product.

It is easier to protect your own rights but to be careful of the other owner’s copyright is very important. Consulting a copyright lawyer before originating a project can assure your safety in case of any plagiarism charges. Sometimes copyright is violated without knowledge. Work picked up for inspiration can also be alleged for piracy. Legal help can drive the client out of such problems without much effort and trouble.

Everyone now wants immediate access, of course (prints are so last season!). As every good bridal magazine, forum or blog will tell you, a must-have on your wedding photography shopping list is the right to own all the images. You want a disc containing every photograph taken on your day, so that you can make copies of them for your family & friends.

And so, reluctantly, the professional photography market has had to change, adapt and finally give in to consumer wishes. And rightly so, as the client should always dictate the market.

However, some of those same magazines, forums and blogs will tell you to ask for the copyright-free images from your wedding photographer. And you know what? Some photographers actually seem to be doing just that!

The problem with this is that copyright gives total and utter ownership – intellectual rights over those images. The photographer who took them has now handed over the copyright to his client and has lost ALL rights to use those images. This means should the photographer wish to use them on a website gallery or print a canvas for the studio, for example, or even store a disc with them in a draw, the photographer legally cannot! That is, not without the express permission of the new copyright holder (the client), who of course now has the right to refuse (and/or make a charge for useage).

A photographer who gives you copyright gives away his or her rights to use those images in any way, and in fact may be taken to court and sued for breaching those rights. Maybe your photographer gave you copyright? It might be worth a look on their website galleries for your images…

A wedding photographer with good business sense will of course give their client exactly what they are looking for – a disc of images ready to print. But these will be with reproduction rights; that is, the right for the client to make copies for themselves for personal use to share with family and friends. If you want to use these images for social networking purposes for example, accreditation should be given to the photographer (many photographers nowadays will give a second set of images on the disc already web sized with their logo in the corner). However, the photographer maintains ownership of the copyright, and therefore can use the images for their portfolio and website, and thus everyone is happy.

Remember, wedding photographers are completely at your service on your wedding day, on hand to record the most cherished moments of the big occasion, and all they ask in return is that their hard work is acknowledged, and their copyright respected.

What is Copyright?

Copyright is concerned with protecting literary, artistic or scientific work of the human intellect. These include books, wallpapers, pamphlets, catalogues, maps, guides and other writings, music, works of the fine arts such as paintings and sculptures, lectures, addresses, and works of like nature, Dramatic, dramatic musical works, Chronographic works, dumb show, Musical composition, Architecture, sculpture, drawings, engravings, lithographic, phonographic works, Translations, adaptations and technology based works such as computer programs and electronic databases.

Copyright is based on the concepts of originality and reproduction of the work in any material form. Therefore the main criterion for the protection of a work under copyright laws is that it should beoriginal (Not copied). Accordingly copyright laws confers the exclusive right to the owner of the “original” literary, artistic or scientific work to use or authorize others to use it for its reproduction, public performance, translation and adaptation.

It is to be noted that copyright protects a work that is the expression of thought based on some idea, and not for the idea as such. For example if I have the idea of painting “sunset over the sea”, anyone else can use the same idea, which is not protected. But when I actually produce my painting of “sunset over the sea” the painting itself is expression, and that is protected.

Copyright provides a bundle of rights. The most typical are the following: the right to copy or otherwise reproduce any kind of work; the right to distribute copies to the public; the right to rent copies of at least certain categories of works (such as computer programs and audiovisual works); the right to make sound recordings of the performances of literary and musical works; the right to perform in public, particularly musical, dramatic or audiovisual works; the right to communicate to the public by cable or otherwise the performances of such works and, particularly, to broadcast, by radio, television or other wireless means, any kind of work; the right to translate literary works; the right to rent, particularly, audiovisual works, works embodied in phonograms and computer programs; the right to adapt any kind of work and particularly the right to make audiovisual works thereof.

Copyright is a protection that covers published and unpublished literary, scientific and artistic works, musical work, cinematographic films, software etc.

Whatever be the form of expression, such works should be fixed in a tangible or material form. This means that if you can see it, hear it and/or touch it – it may be protected.

Originality:

Originality in relation to a work means that it is the author’s own creation and is not copied totally or essentially from another work. Originality is required by copyright law for the composition of the contents as well as the form of their expression , but not in relation to mere ideas, information or methods embodied in the work. Originality is not to be confused with novelty: the pre-existence of a similar work unknown to the author does not affect the originality of an independent creation. In the case of a derivative work, originality resides in the individual method of adaptation of the pre-existing work as referred to, among others, in Article 9 of the Mexican Law.

The requirement of originality as a condition of copyright protection is expressed in many national copyright laws by qualifying protectible works as “original”. This sense of the attribute “original” should not be confused with the meaning of the term when used to oppose original works as pre-existing works to derivative works.

LITERARY, ARTISTIC, MUSICAL AND SCIETIFIC WORKS

Strictly speaking, literary work is writing of great value from the standpoint of the beauty and emotional effect of its form and content. From the point of view of copyright, however, a general reference to literary works is commonly understood as meaning all sorts of original written works, be they of a belletristic, scientific, technical or merely practical character, irrespective of their value or purpose.

But an artistic work (or work of art) is a creation intended to appeal to the aesthetic sense of the person perceiving it. The category of artistic works comprises paintings, drawings, sculptures, engravings, and in several copyright laws also works of architecture and photographic works. Although in some countries musical works are considered to be a special category of protected works, in many copyright laws the notion of artistic works comprises musical works too. Works of applied art are in most legislation likewise included in this category.

Musical works are also protected by copyright. Such works comprise all kinds of combinations of sounds (composition) with or without text (lyric or libretto), to be performed by musical instruments and/or the human voice. If the work is also intended for stage performance, it is called a dramatico-musical work. Music usually forms part of cinematographic works too. The author of a musical work is generally referred to as the composer. The most frequent uses of musical works for which protection is granted under copyright laws are reproduction (as sheet music or recording), performance, broadcasting other forms of communication to the public, arrangement and use as background music. Copyright laws making protection subject to fixation in material form only protect music written in musical notation or recorded appropriately

Another area of importance is scientific works. Scientific work deals with problems in such a way as to correspond to the requirements of scientific approach. The coverage of this category of works is not at all restricted to the field of natural sciences or to literary works of a scientific character. A computer program could under certain circumstances also be a scientific work. In copyright laws, a general reference to scientific works is often understood as meaning all kinds of works other than artistic or fictional, such as technical writings, reference books, popular scientific writings, or practical guides. However, scientific works protected by copyright do not comprise scientific inventions, discoveries, research work or scientific undertakings.

Why to protect a work by copyright?

Even though the work is protected by the fact of its creation some sort of proof is needed which can be obtained by the registration of the work under copyright law of the nation. In civil-law countries, the work is typically protected from the moment of its creation. On the other hand under common law you need have to have it fixed in some way, perhaps written down or recorded on tape. It implies thatthe work has to be fixed before it is protected. The difference here is really not that important, it is basically a question of the kind of proof you would need in a court in the very rare cases of works that are not fixed in the normal way.

There are no “international copyrights’ that enable you protect your work throughout the world. However, most countries are members of the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC), which allow you to protect your works in countries of which you are not a citizen or national. In Berne Convention countries, all foreign owners of rights or authors from other Berne countries qualify for protection under the Convention without any formalities, so there’s no need to make any registration. Under these treaties, the following works may be protected (i) both unpublished and published works of an author who is a national or resident of a country that is a member of these treaties; or (ii) publishedworks, with permission, of an author who is not a national or resident of a country that is a member of these treaties. In this case a work may be considered simultaneously published in several countries if it has been published in two or more Berne Union countries within 30 days of its first publication

Berne Convention:

Berne convention established in 1886 is the oldest international convention concerning copyright. The Convention, concluded in 1886, was revised at Paris in 1896 and at Berlin in 1908, completed at Berne in 1914, revised at Rome in 1928, at Brussels in 1948, at Stockholm in 1967 and at Paris in 1971, and was amended in 1979. The Convention is open to all States. Instruments of ratification or accession must be deposited with the Director General of WIPO. It is to be noted that WTO Members, even if they are not party to the Berne Convention (e.g., Indonesia), must comply with the substantive law provisions of the Berne Convention, except that WTO Members not party to the Berne Convention are not bound by the moral rights provisions of the Berne Convention. It should also be noted that developing and “transition” countries may, at least until 2000, delay the application of most of the obligations provided for in the TRIPS Agreement (Article 65). Naturally, States party to the Berne Convention cannot delay the application of their obligations provided for in the Berne Convention. The Berne Union has an Assembly and an Executive Committee. Every country member of the Union which has adhered to at least the administrative and final provisions of the Stockholm Act is a member of the Assembly. The members of the Executive Committee are elected from among the members of the Union, except for Switzerland, which is a member ex officio. On January 1, 1997, the Executive Committee had 30 members.

According to this convention the contracting states should not show discrimination to works from other member countries. Article 2 of Berne convention gives a list of works eligible for protection, which covers all literary, artistic and scientific works. Protection is not available to computer programs and multimedia productions according to this convention, which are latest developments. According to Berne convention a work is protected in all the member countries by virtue of its creation itself. Berne convention provides a minimum protection for the work that is lifetime of the author plus 50 years but article 9(2) provides the free use of the protected work in certain cases.

Copyright act in India provides the protection for a period of life time of the author plus 60 years.

COMPUTER PROGRAM & MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTIONS

Computer programs are a good example of a type of work which is not included in the list contained in the Berne Convention, but which is undoubtedly included in the notion of a “production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain” within the meaning of Article 2 of the Convention; indeed, computer programs are protected under the copyright laws of a number of countries, and under the TRIPSAgreement. A computer program is a set of instructions, which controls the operations of a computer in order to enable it to perform a specific task, such as the storage and retrieval of information. A computer program is produced by one or more human authors but, in its final “mode or form of expression,” it can be understood directly only by a machine (the computer), not by humans.

Another, recent example of a type of work not listed in Article 2 of the Berne Convention, but which is clearly included in the notion of a creation “in the literary, scientific and artistic domain,” is multimedia productions. While no acceptable legal definition has been developed, there is a consensus that the combination of sound, text and images in a digital format, which is made accessible by a computer program, embodies an original expression of authorship sufficient to justify the protection of multimedia productions under the umbrella of copyright.

WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT)

In December of 1996, a Diplomatic Conference was held, which concluded the newest international agreement protecting copyright – the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT). This treaty responded to the need to protect works when transmitted by digital means, including via the Internet. The subject matter to be protected through copyright by the WCT includes that of computer programs, whatever may be the mode or form of their expression, and compilations of data or other material, (databases) in any form, which by reason of the selection or arrangement of their content constitute intellectual creations. The rights of authors include the previously mentioned rights of distribution, rental, and communication to the public, and it is made clear that the right of communication to the public covers the transmission of works through digital networks such as the Internet. These rights, as is normal, are subject to certain limitations and exceptions.

RELATED RIGHTS

Related rights also termed as neighboring rights provide legal protection to the interest of the persons or organizations that add substantial creative, technical or organizational skill in the process of bringing a work available to public. The protection is available to performing artists; producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations from unauthorized exploitation of their rights resulted from the financial and organizational resources that they add to the copyright protected work. Protection under related rights also extends to broadcasting of live events and folklores.

Performers (singers, actors, dancers, musicians etc.) are eligible for protection because of their creative interpretations giving life to the work. The protection for such performance is 20 years from the end of year in which the performance took place according to Rome convention. But the term is 50 years according to TRIPS agreement. Unauthorized fixation, broadcasting etc. can be prevented by virtue of the protection granted.

Producers of phonograms need protection because they are the most immediate victims of piracy. They have the right to authorize and prevent direct or indirect reproduction, importation and distribution of their phonograms. The protection is for 20 years from the end of year in which the fixation is made according to Rome convention and is for 50 years according to TRIPS provisions.

Protection is also available to broadcasters for the investments and technical skill they put together so that the unauthorized re-broadcasting and recording could be prevented. The protection is for 20 years from the end of the year in which the broadcast took place according to both Rome convention and TRIPS agreement. The WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) that entered into force on May 20, 2002 offer protection to economic and moral rights as regards exploitation in digital form including that over Internet.

What are the Rights bestowed by Copyright?

The copyright holder has a set of different rights, which are governed partly by the Berne Convention, where there are minimum rights, and partly by national law, which often takes the rights even further. There are basically two types of rights 1) economic rights, which allow the owner of rights to derive financial reward from the use of his works by others, and 2) moral rights, which allow the author to take certain actions to preserve the personal link between himself and the work.

Moral rights:

These rights comprise the right to decide on disclosure of the work; the right to claim authorship thereof (to have the name of the author and the title of the work mentioned in connection with the use of the work); the right to prevent the mention of the author’s name if the author of the work wishes to remain anonymous; the right to choose a pseudonym in connection with the use of the work; the right to object to unauthorized modification of the work, to mutilation thereof and to any derogatory action in relation thereto; the right of withdrawal of the work from public use against payment of compensation for damages caused to any person who has previously received proper authorization to use the work. Most of the copyright laws recognize moral rights as an inalienable part of the copyright, distinct from the so-called economic rights. Some laws also provide for moral rights of performers to protect them against distortion of their performances and grant them the right to claim the mention of their name in connection with their performances.

Economic Rights

These are the rights providing financial benefits to the author. They imply as a rule that within the limitations set by the copyright law, the owner of the copyright may make all public use of the work conditional on payment of remuneration. Economic rights comprise, in particular, the faculty to do or to authorize the doing of any of the following: to publish or otherwise reproduce the work for public distribution; to communicate it to the public by performance, by broadcasting or by wire; to make translations or any kind of adaptation of the work and to use these in public.

The right of reproduction is the basic right of the right holder to prevent others from making copies of his/her works in printed form, CD ROM etc. The right holder can also authorize distribution of copies of the work by assigning the right. But the above right doesn’t prevent individuals to make single copies of the work for private, personal and noncommercial purposes.

The rights of Public performance, Broadcasting and Communication to Public are another bundle of rights owned by the copyright holder. The rights include prevention of others from the above acts and the right to authorize it. Public performance means the performance not only in a public place but also where a substantial number of persons outside the normal circle of a family and its closest social acquaintances is present i.e. the presentation of a play in a theatre or an orchestra performance of a symphony in a concert hall etc. Broadcasting covers the emission by wireless means within a range and Communication to public is that by means of wires and cables.

Another right is the right of translation and adaptation. Translation is the expression of a work to a different language and Adaptation is the modification of a work to create another work such as adapting a novel for making a cinema. In order to reproduce and publish a translation or adaptation authorization must be obtained from the owner of the copyright in the original work even if the owner of the copyright in the translation or adaptation grants permission.

PECULIARITIES OF COPYRIGHT

Copyright doesn’t prevent individuals to make single copies of the work for private, personal and noncommercial purposes.
In order to reproduce and publish a translation or adaptation authorization must be obtained from the owner of the copyright in the original work even if the owner of the copyright in the translation or adaptation grants permission.
Copyright offers protection for a minimum period of lifetime of the author plus 50 years in almost all the countries
Both civil and criminal remedies are available against infringement and piracy of the protected work.
Copyright is not territorial.

Ownership of copyright and licensing

Owner of copyright is generally understood as being the person to whom the copyright in a work belongs. The original owner of copyright is as a rule, and except for a few special cases, which vary according to the different copyright laws, the author, who acquires copyright by virtue of law upon creation of the work. Owners of copyright may also be the heirs of the author as a result of inheritance. Some copyright laws allow for assignment of copyright in whole or in part and thereby the assignee becomes owner of the copyright in whole, or of the part assigned

Licensing in the field of copyright is the authorization (permission) given by the author or other owner of copyright (licensor) to the user of the work (licensee) to use it in a manner and according to conditions agreed upon between them in the pertinent contract (licensing agreement). Unlike an assignment, a license does not transfer ownership; it only constitutes a right or rights to use the work under the copyright in it, which remains with the licensor, though restricted according to the scope of the license granted. The license is either exclusive or non-exclusive; in the latter case, the owner of the copyright may lawfully grant similar licenses to other licensees too. Often the licensee also obtains the right to exploit his license by allowing other persons to use the work correspondingly (sub-licenses). Copyright conventions and national copyright laws may for compulsory provide licenses and statutory licenses in special cases.

Royalty will be paid to the author, etc. for each copy of a book sold, or for each public performance of a work.

Joint work and joint authorship

A joint work or work of joint authorship is generally understood as meaning a work created by two or more authors in direct collaboration or at least having regard to one another’s contributions, which may not be separated from each other and considered as independent creations. Examples of the most common types of joint works may be dramatico-musical compositions, musical works with lyrics, manuals written by several authors or computer programs created by a team. The authors of such a work are called joint authors or co-authors and their copyright in the whole unitary work in subject to special rules of copyright law. Joint works are not to be confused with either composite or collective works or collections.

According to most copyright laws, joint authors can authorize the use of the work only jointly and the terms of protection of rights to be measured from the death of the author are computed from the death of the last surviving author. The moral rights, in so far as granted by the applicable law, pertain to each of the joint authors individually and can also be exercised separately.

Infringement of copyright, piracy and remedies

Infringement of copyright characteristically consists of the unauthorized use itself (e.g. exhibition, reproduction, performance, broadcasting, other communication to the public of the work without permission; unauthorized distribution, exportation, importation of copies thereof; plagiarism; derivative use without the author’s consent, etc.); in countries protecting moral rights, infringement of copyright may also consist of distortion of the work, omission of the mention of authorship, etc.

Piracy is the reproducing of published works or phonograms by any appropriate means for public distribution and also re-broadcasting another’s broadcast without proper authorization. Unlawful fixation of live performances is referred to in common parlance as “bootlegging.” Therefore pirated copyright goods include mean any goods which are copies made without the consent of the right holder or person duly authorized by the right holder in the country of production and which are made directly or indirectly from an article where the making of that copy would have constituted an infringement of a copyright or a related right under the law of the country of importation.

Legal proceedings can be instituted before a court or any competent authority for imposing sanctions on the infringement of copyright. There are both civil remedies and criminal remedies are available against infringement. Civil remedies compensate the owner of rights for economic injury suffered because of the infringement, usually in the form of monetary damages, and create an effective deterrent to further infringement, often in the form of a judicial order to destroy the infringing goods and the materials and implements which have been predominantly used for producing them; where there is a danger that infringing acts may be continued, the court may also issue injunctions against such acts, failure to comply with which would subject the infringer to payment of a fine.

Criminal sanctions are intended to punish those who willfully commit acts of piracy of copyright and related rights on a commercial scale, and, as in the case of civil remedies, to deter further infringement. The purpose of punishment is served by the imposition of substantial fines, and by sentences of imprisonment consistent with the level of penalties applied for crimes of corresponding seriousness, particularly in cases of repeat offenses. The purpose of deterrence is served by orders for the seizure, forfeiture and destruction of infringing goods, as well as the materials and implements the predominant use of which has been to commit the offense

Limitations on Rights

The first limitation to the rights is the exclusion of certain categories of works from copyright protection. In some countries works are excluded from protection if they are not fixed in tangible form; for example, a work of choreography would only be protected once the movements were written down in dance notation or recorded on videotape. In some countries, moreover, the texts of laws, court and administrative decisions are excluded from copyright protection.

1) Free uses, which are acts of exploitation of works that may be carried out without authorization and without an obligation to compensate the owner of rights for the use. Examples of free uses include: the making of quotations from a protected work, provided that the source of the quotation, including the name of the author, is mentioned and that the extent of the quotation is compatible with fair practice; use of works by way of illustration for teaching purposes; and use of works for the purpose of news reporting. In respect of the right of reproduction, the Berne Convention contains a general rule, rather than explicit detailed limitations.

Also numerous laws contain provisions allowing reproduction of a work exclusively for the personal, private and non-commercial use of individuals.

2) Non-voluntary licenses, under which the acts of exploitation may be carried out without authorization, but with the obligation to compensate the owner of rights.

Non-voluntary licenses are usually created in circumstances where a new technology for the dissemination of works to the public had emerged, and where the national legislature feared that owners of rights would prevent the development of the new technology by refusing to authorize use of works.

Newspapers probably are the biggest victims of copyright infringement and generally they didn’t care much, as that was old news by the time anyone copied it and the new news is today. Yesterday is gone; “That was Yesterday!” like the lyrics in “Foreigner” the Rock Band’s famous song.

Today, however everything has changed. Recently, in the congressional hearings the dying newspaper industry had several of the largest newspaper owners in the country complaining that they were being ripped off, that their content was being displayed on blogs, e-mail newsletters, and copied directly off their websites. In many cases, these so-called electronic copyright infringement violations were completely legal, as only 200 words or less were copied and the newspaper was cited.

Unfortunately, in many Internet forums the posters to discussions, often using only screen names, will copy and paste the entire article into the discussion group.

And do this without even citing where it was from, and rather than putting up a link that people could click on to go to the newspaper’s website. The newspapers during the Congressional hearings were considered by many to be “grabbing at straws,” looking for help from Congress to crack down on online media (something they themselves are now trying to break into), and using copyright law as their reason.

Of course, luckily the Internet media was there also during these Congressional Hearings and made their case. It appeared that the legislators did not side with the newspapers. Although many newspapers are having their content lifted, almost in real time, not the next day; and the newspapers admit there is nothing they can do about it, as they cannot chase every single blogger around the Internet.

Please consider these issues in copyright law, as they are very much part of our modern information age.

Trying to copyright register your song through the mail is known as “poor man’s copyright.” The steps to this type of process include: creating an original song; putting it in a fixed form (i.e. music notes on paper, sound recordings on a CD); placing the finished song in an envelope; and sending it to yourself using registered mail.

Unfortunately, and contrary to popular belief, this method simply does not work in the eyes of the court. While in theory, “poor man’s copyright” seems like a great option to protect copyright, in practice, it’s not.

The inspiration of sending the song to yourself through registered mail is that you will acquire a date-stamped record of the creation of the song. Should someone copy your song or a portion of the song, you would use this date-stamped envelope to prove that you had created the song first and, thus, own the copyrights (which include the rights to produce and reproduce the work).

There are a number of reasons why poor man’s copyright is not a recognized method of protecting copyright for songs.

Firstly, post offices do not consider themselves to be copyright registries and do not accumulate or store the information required by the courts to prove ownership of the song.

Additionally, they do not keep records of the registered mail for extended periods of time. Should someone copy your work in six years, it is doubtful the post office will have a record of when you sent your registration. As a result, it could be very difficult to prove whether you really sent the envelop through registered mail or whether the stamps were artificial.

There are other ways one could corrupt the registered envelop that also make poor man’s copyright unsuccessful to protect your song.

For instance, you could send yourself a number of unsealed envelopes just to get the date-stamp. Then, when you have completed a song, you could place it inside the envelop and seal it. In other words, you would be trying to pass-off a song for a date that is prior than the actual creation.

A further method of tampering with the copyright registration is sending yourself a sealed registration with your song. Then, if changes are made to the song, you could steam the envelop seal open and insert the updated version of the song.

As you can see, these cases reveal the ineptness of poor man’s copyright to protect your songs and why the courts do not consider it a viable means of registration.

Fortunately, there are a number of copyright registries available to legitimately protect your songs. Whether it’s through online registries, the government, or associations, there are various options available to protect your songs. Do your due diligence and pick a registry that suits your pricing and storage needs.

Problems in writing an essay assignment may be caused by some factors such as experience, ability, and the time that any students have. So, what is the solution in order to overcome such difficulties in essay writing actually? Let me ask you question. Do you ever ask to yourself such as “is there any service to write my essay?  Your friends perhaps have recognized that they can actually hire any writing service in order to help them finish any writing task, in this case essay writing.

Yet, for those who don’t know about such service, I will give recommended writing service that you can hire. You need to visit Advancedwriters.com to find out what kind of writing service that you need whether custom essays or many others. Their reputation and experience in providing writing service for people especially students have made them to be the most popular writing service that people can trust.

To those who have been a victim of copyright theft, they are fully aware of the importance of copyright protection, security certification and security training. Apart from that you must be prepared to deal with the situation when someone tries to steal your content.

You must have noticed the mention of when rather than if. That was actually intentional. With the excess of information available on Internet, it is just a matter of “when” instead of “if”.

The initial step in knowing about what to do when somebody takes your content is to keep in mind that it is bound to happen. Thus the more geared up and well-informed you remain, the better are your probability of prevention. This will help you keep a plan in place when any such thing happens.

As the amount of WebPages and blogs rise, the demand for newer content keeps on putting more pressure on website administrators.

Tired of the situation, the only option is to steal others content. This is because their aim is to attract traffic which is not possible without website hijacking. It is the obvious use of part or at times your entire website content without permission. It is also a kind of copyright violation that must be dealt with.

Copyright rules were intended to defend those who deserved to be honored. Just imagine what will happen when you stop paying your lawyers, doctors or electricians, etc. technically they must be paid for their services. In case, you do not, the collectors will be after you. Likewise, when your web content is stolen there is something that you need to do fast. The first thin to do is confront content theft.

In case your wallet, or purse gets stolen, or you have a robbery at home, you can call the police and insurance company so that your valuables can be recovered.

But when your content gets stolen, the big question is where to look for help?

Sadly, until some agency is organized to protect your inventive rights, the majority of the combat needs to be done by you. There is no need to get overwhelmed by this thought. The idea is to make the procedure of retrieving your stolen content easy to understand and implement.

After that you need to clear your myth popular about copyrights and their violation.

* Chasing somebody accused of copyright violation is not that time-consuming or expensive.

* You do not need to hire a lawyer.

* You do not need anything apart from some easy actions.

* The defense of copyright rules must NOT be given solely to companies having money.

* The Protection and safeguard of copyrights is not that complicated.

Believe it or not, these are all myths. Only because information on internet is free does not really give you the right to steal it. Everything from designs, images to graphics is all protected by copyright laws. Being an intellectual property, no one has the right to steal them under any circumstances.

Not tracking down or stopping a property from getting stolen is no easy task. You have to go deep into the matter to find out who the culprit is.