Posted by: JanetCroft
August 25, 2009 @ 1:40pm
It's a bad idea and not very ethical to just rewrite someone else's work and pass it off as your own. And it can indeed lead to being sued. The safest course is to either be original, or cite your sources properly.
Replies: 1Posted by: ksmith
August 24, 2009 @ 9:57am
The rules your professor sent are correct, perhaps even a little too strict. They largely reflect the actual language of the face-to-face teaching exception for performances, which is found in section 110(1) of the copyright act. Only point 3 seems to... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: ksmith
August 21, 2009 @ 3:09am
I don't believe the Copyright Office would supply a copy of a book on request, both because they do not haave the time or the staff to do so and because it would infringe the copyright.
Replies: 5Posted by: RuthDukelow
August 18, 2009 @ 7:16am
I think that there are three levels of copyright ownership here, all of which have overlapping rights in the video/audio:
1. Copyright in the original music and lyrics owned by the author/composer (or other person to whom the copyright ownership... Read more...
Replies: 2Posted by: RuthDukelow
August 18, 2009 @ 7:04am
Depending on who is using the materials and how they are being used, this might fall under section 107 Fair Use or section 110. For example, if this is for a course in a nonprofit educational institution and the instructor displays the materials during a... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: RuthDukelow
August 18, 2009 @ 6:38am
Depending on the terms of your employment with the manufacturing company, you might have to request permission from the company before you can use the images. It is likely that your former employer owns the copyright in the images you created while you... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: ksmith
August 13, 2009 @ 10:11am
In the Shepherd Fairey case there are really three separable issues, which I think are instructive.
First, ownership of the original picture. The photographer says he was an independent contractor who never agreed to a work for hire... Read more...
Replies: 5Posted by: ksmith
August 12, 2009 @ 3:14pm
"Postal copyright" refers to the practice of mailing oneself a copy of one's own work in a sealed envelope. The idea is that by leaving the envelope unopened one establishes dated proof of original authorship. It never had any impact on copyright... Read more...
Replies: 5Posted by: JanetCroft
August 10, 2009 @ 12:31pm
Copyrights DO expire, but a book copyrighted 1947 and 1958 should still be under copyright in this country, unless the copyright was not renewed. Our Copyright Slider, at http://librarycopyright.net/digitalslider/, will help you determine if something is... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: Freya Anderson
August 7, 2009 @ 3:56pm
I just noticed your question languishing. Because this bulletin board is focused on library use, and the issues that you mention are probably not tremendously likely to come up in most libraries, it may be outside of the comfort zone for some of us... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: Freya Anderson
August 7, 2009 @ 3:00pm
There are many factors that impact whether or not the use you describe would be fair. Some questions that come to my mind are: are you selling your work? how much of the songs would you be copying and how key is that portion to the song? is there a... Read more...
Replies: 2Posted by: Freya Anderson
August 7, 2009 @ 2:16pm
MPAA ratings are proprietary, but because of trademark, not copyright. The MPAA has posted guidelines for using their ratings at http://www.mpaa.org/Ratings_Rules.pdf. It seems like they are mostly concerned with the ratings being displayed... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: ksmith
August 2, 2009 @ 5:16am
When a photographer takes a photo of an object that is not itself protected by copyright, the only copyright in that photo is held by the photographer.
I suppose it is possible, in the situation you describe, for the junkyard owner to... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: ksmith
July 26, 2009 @ 5:04pm
Assuming you are describing the relationship accurately, you can, unless you gave up that right as part of your contract with the assignee. When a work is created as a work for hire, the copyright law designates the employer as the author from the moment... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: ksmith
July 24, 2009 @ 5:07am
Simply giving credit to the photographer is no substitute for obtaining his or her permission to publish their copyrighted works. Also, some of the usual copyright exceptions (like fair use in the US) will be unavailable or much harder to claim because... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: JanetCroft
July 13, 2009 @ 1:02pm
Interesting question! The philosophical question behind this -- and excellect fodder for a science fiction writer -- is this: is a translation by a "robot" the intellectual property of that "robot"? Or of the robot's creator? Or the original author? Or... Read more...
Replies: 2Posted by: JanetCroft
July 9, 2009 @ 1:04pm
I don't know of anything specific to prison libraries as far as copyright goes; they only thing I'd wonder about is if this is a government agency prison or a private for-profit prison -- and even in the latter case, I don't know if the library would... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: ksmith
June 30, 2009 @ 9:58am
It will depend on when the translation was published (or when it was created, if it is unpublished). Although the underlying poetry is surely in the public domain, there may be rights in the translation, which will be vested in the translator or the... Read more...
Replies: 8Posted by: dan
June 24, 2009 @ 5:08pm
I'm not sure the library should do anything. The library hasn't done anything to infringe anyone's copyright. The student might have infringed, and even that is questionable, but you can't control what your customers do.
Replies: 2Posted by: dmeeds
June 24, 2009 @ 11:51am
We have a collection of VHS tapes that is rapidly deteriorating. If these are not available to purchase in DVD format, is it permissible to make a DVD copy of the original VHS tape as a backup and circulate the DVD copy once the VHS tapes are no longer... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: ksmith
June 24, 2009 @ 6:39am
This is actually a hard question. If the term of protection for the economic rights under copyright has expired, then the work is in the public domain. Thus you are free to make and publish a translation as long as you respect the "moral rights" of the... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: ksmith
June 11, 2009 @ 7:52am
I have never heard of this before, but my guess is that it is a holdover from what is called the "manufacturing clause" in US copyright. It is section 601 of the copyright act (Title 17), but it was allowed to expire in 1986. This requirement, that... Read more...
Replies: 1Posted by: JanetCroft
June 8, 2009 @ 12:55pm
Is there a charge for attendees? Or is this more in the nature of a recital? I'm still not sure, but a free performance, and particularly the performance of what in a non-performing-arts class might be called a research project, would weigh more in the... Read more...
Replies: 2Posted by: JanetCroft
June 8, 2009 @ 12:50pm
Probably best to check back with the publisher in this situation -- if you did NOT have the agreement for the paper reproduction, you'd be having to make a permissions request anyway for an amount this large.
Replies: 1Posted by: ksmith
June 6, 2009 @ 6:47am
What language are you referring to? The archival exceptions for libraries in 108 do have a bizarre restriction on distribution of digital copies, but it is a restriction to the library premises and does not mention personal use or scholarship as... Read more...
Replies: 4