Editing Copyright (section)

== Obtaining protection ==
=== Ownership ===
The original holder of the copyright may be the employer of the author rather than the author themself if the work is a "[[work for hire]]".<ref>17 U.S.C. §&nbsp;201(b); Cmty. for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 490 U.S. 730 (1989)</ref><ref>[[Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid]]</ref> For example, in [[English law]] the [[Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988]] provides that if a copyrighted work is made by an employee in the course of that employment, the copyright is automatically owned by the employer which would be a "Work for Hire". Typically, the first owner of a copyright is the person who created the work i.e. the [[author]].<ref name="fairuse.stanford.edu">{{Cite web |url=https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/faqs/copyright-ownership/ |title=Copyright Ownership: Who Owns What? |last=Stim |first=Rich |website=The Center for Internet and Society Fair Use Project |publisher=Stanford University |access-date=21 July 2019 |date=27 March 2013 }}</ref> But when more than one person creates the work, then a case of [[joint authorship]] can be made provided some criteria are met.

=== Eligible works ===
Copyright may apply to a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms, or "works". Specifics vary by [[jurisdiction]], but these can include [[poem]]s, [[theses]], [[Copyright Protection for Fictional Characters|fictional characters]], [[drama|plays]] and other [[book|literary works]], [[film|motion pictures]], [[choreography]], [[music]]al compositions, [[sound recording]]s, [[painting]]s, [[drawing]]s, [[sculpture]]s, [[photography|photographs]], [[computer software]], [[radio]] and [[television]] [[Broadcasting|broadcasts]], and [[industrial design]]s. Graphic [[designs]] and industrial designs may have separate or overlapping laws applied to them in some jurisdictions.<ref name="yu-2006">
{{cite book
 | editor-last1 = Yu | editor-first1 = Peter K
 | title = Intellectual property and information wealth: copyright and related rights
 | date = 30 December 2006
| publisher = Praeger
 | location = Westport, Connecticut, US
 | isbn = 978-0-275-98882-1
}}  Praeger is part of the Greenwood Publishing Group.  Hardcover.  Possible alternative ISBN 978-0-275-98883-8.
</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.wipo.int/publications/en/details.jsp?id=4081 |format=PDF |last=World Intellectual Property Organization |title=Understanding Copyright and Related Rights |year=2016 |publisher=WIPO |access-date=1 December 2017 |page=8 |doi=10.34667/tind.36289 |isbn=9789280528046 }}</ref>

Copyright does not cover ideas and information themselves, only the form or manner in which they are expressed.<ref name="Art and copyright">{{Cite book |title=Art and copyright |pages=48–49 |last=Simon|first=Stokes |isbn=978-1-84113-225-9 |year=2001 |publisher=Hart Publishing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-XBqKIryaQC |via=Google Books }}</ref> For example, the copyright to a [[Mickey Mouse]] cartoon restricts others from making copies of the cartoon or creating [[derivative work]]s based on [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney's]] particular [[anthropomorphic]] mouse, but does not prohibit the creation of other works about anthropomorphic mice in general, so long as they are different enough not to be judged copies of Disney's.<ref name="Art and copyright" />

=== Originality ===
{{Main |Threshold of originality }}
Typically, a work must meet [[Threshold of originality|minimal standards of originality]] in order to qualify for copyright, and the copyright expires after a set period of time (some jurisdictions may allow this to be extended). Different countries impose different tests, although generally the requirements are low; in the [[United Kingdom]] there has to be some "skill, labour, and judgment" that has gone into it.<ref>''Express Newspaper Plc v News (UK) Plc'', F.S.R. 36 (1991)</ref> In [[Australia]] and the United Kingdom it has been held that a single word is insufficient to comprise a copyright work. However, single words or a short string of words can sometimes be registered as a [[trademark]] instead.

Copyright law recognizes the right of an author based on whether the work actually is an [[Original work|original creation]], rather than based on [[Plagiarism checker|whether it is unique]]; two authors may own copyright on two substantially identical works, if it is determined that the duplication was coincidental, and neither was copied from the other.

=== Registration ===
{{Main |Copyright registration }}
In all countries where the [[Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works|Berne Convention]] standards apply, copyright is automatic and need not be obtained through official registration with any government office. Once an idea has been reduced to tangible form, for example by securing it in a fixed medium (such as a drawing, sheet music, photograph, a videotape, or a computer file), the copyright holder is entitled to enforce their exclusive rights.<ref name="Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works Article 5" /> However, while registration is not needed to exercise copyright, in jurisdictions where the laws provide for registration, it serves as ''[[prima facie]]'' evidence of a valid copyright and enables the copyright holder to seek [[statutory damages for copyright infringement|statutory damages]] and attorney's fees.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Subject Matter and Scope of Copyright |url=http://copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |website=copyright.gov |access-date=4 June 2015 }}</ref> (In the US, registering after an infringement only enables one to receive actual damages and lost profits.)

A widely circulated strategy to avoid the cost of copyright registration is referred to as the [[poor man's copyright]]. It proposes that the creator send the work to themself in a sealed envelope by registered mail, using the [[postmark]] to establish the date. This technique has not been recognized in any published opinions of the United States courts. <!-- Note to editors: The previously-worded statement, "This technique has not been recognized by any United States court" is overbroad because not all such cases are reported, and it is impossible to know whether this is correct.--> The [[United States Copyright Office]] says the technique is not a substitute for actual registration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Copyright in General (FAQ) |url=http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#poorman |publisher=U.S. Copyright Office |access-date=11 August 2016 }}</ref> The [[United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office]] discusses the technique and notes that the technique (as well as commercial registries) does not constitute dispositive proof that the work is original or establish who created the work.<ref>[http://www.ipo.gov.uk/copy/c-claim/c-register.htm "Copyright Registers"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005014901/http://www.ipo.gov.uk/copy/c-claim/c-register.htm |date=5 October 2013 }}, United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office</ref><ref>[http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy/c-about/c-auto.htm "Automatic right"], United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office</ref> <!-- Note to editors: The previously-worded statement, "The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office discusses the technique but does not recommend its use." overstates the UK IPO position; the IPO does NOT recommend against the PMC approach.-->

=== Fixing ===
The [[Berne Convention]] allows member countries to decide whether creative works must be "fixed" to enjoy copyright. Article 2, Section 2 of the Berne Convention states:

{{quote|"It shall be a matter for legislation in the countries of the Union to prescribe that works in general or any specified categories of works shall not be protected unless they have been fixed in some material form."}}

Some countries do not require that a work be produced in a particular form to obtain copyright protection. For instance, Spain, France, and Australia do not require fixation for copyright protection. The United States and Canada, on the other hand, require that most works must be "fixed in a tangible medium of expression" to obtain copyright protection.<ref name="cyber.law.harvard.edu">See Harvard Law School, [http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/copyrightforlibrarians/Module_3:_The_Scope_of_Copyright_Law#Fixation ''Module 3: The Scope of Copyright Law'']. See also Tyler T. Ochoa, [http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/chtlj/vol20/iss4/5 ''Copyright, Derivative Works and Fixation: Is Galoob a Mirage, or Does the Form(GEN) of the Alleged Derivative Work Matter?''], 20 {{smallcaps |Santa Clara High Tech. }} L.J. 991, 999–1002 (2003) ("Thus, both the text of the Act and its legislative history demonstrate that Congress intended that a derivative work does not need to be fixed in order to infringe."). The legislative history of the Copyright Act of 1976 says this difference was intended to address transitory works such as ballets, pantomimes, improvised performances, dumb shows, mime performances, and dancing.</ref> US law requires that the fixation be stable and permanent enough to be "perceived, reproduced or communicated for a period of more than transitory duration". Similarly, Canadian courts consider fixation to require that the work be "expressed to some extent at least in some material form, capable of identification and having a more or less permanent endurance".<ref name="cyber.law.harvard.edu" />

Note this provision of US law:

{{quote|''c) Effect of Berne Convention.—No right or interest in a work eligible for protection under this title may be claimed by virtue of, or in reliance upon, the provisions of the Berne Convention, or the adherence of the United States thereto. Any rights in a work eligible for protection under this title that derive from this title, other Federal or State statutes, or the common law, shall not be expanded or reduced by virtue of, or in reliance upon, the provisions of the Berne Convention, or the adherence of the United States thereto.''<ref>See [https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html US copyright law]</ref>}}

=== Copyright notice ===
{{Main |Copyright notice }}
[[File:Copyright.svg|thumb|A copyright symbol used in copyright notice]]
[[File:Vitprägel.jpg|thumb|A copyright symbol embossed on a piece of paper]]

Before 1989, United States law required the use of a copyright notice, consisting of the [[copyright symbol]] (©, the letter '''C''' inside a circle; Unicode {{unichar|00A9}}), the abbreviation "Copr.", or the word "Copyright", followed by the year of the first publication of the work and the name of the copyright holder.<ref>{{USPL|94|553|Copyright Act of 1976}}, 90 Stat. 2541, §&nbsp;401(a) (19 October 1976)</ref><ref>{{USPL |100 |568 |The Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 (BCIA)}}, 102 Stat. 2853, 2857. One of the changes introduced by the BCIA was to section&nbsp;401, which governs copyright notices on published copies, specifying that notices "may be placed on" such copies; prior to the BCIA, the statute read that notices "shall be placed on all" such copies. An analogous change was made in section&nbsp;402, dealing with copyright notices on phonorecords.</ref> Several years may be noted if the work has gone through substantial revisions. The proper copyright notice for sound recordings of musical or other audio works is a [[sound recording copyright symbol]] (℗, the letter&nbsp;'''P''' inside a circle, Unicode {{unichar|2117}}), which indicates a sound recording copyright, with the letter&nbsp;'''P''' indicating a "[[phonorecord]]". In addition, the phrase ''[[All rights reserved]]'' which indicates that the copyright holder reserves, or holds for their own use was once required to assert copyright, but that phrase is now legally obsolete. Almost everything on the Internet has some sort of copyright attached to it. Whether these things are watermarked, signed, or have any other sort of indication of the copyright is a different story however.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age. |last=Taylor |first=Astra |publisher=Picador |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-250-06259-8 |location=New York City, New York, US |pages=144–145 }}</ref>

In 1989 the United States enacted the ''[[Berne Convention Implementation Act]]'', amending the Copyright Act of 1976 to conform to most of the provisions of the Berne Convention. As a result, the use of copyright notices has become optional to claim copyright, because the Berne Convention makes copyright automatic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ03.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ03.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |title=U.S. Copyright Office – Information Circular |access-date=7 July 2012 }}</ref> However, the lack of notice of copyright using these marks may have consequences in terms of reduced damages in an infringement lawsuit&nbsp;– using notices of this form may reduce the likelihood of a defense of "innocent infringement" being successful.<ref>[[17 U.S.C.]]{{UnitedStatesCodeSec |17 |401(d) }}</ref>

===Publisher's copyright===
In the UK, the publisher of a work automatically owns the copyright in the "typographical arrangement of a published work", i.e. its layout and general appearance as a published work. This copyright lasts for 25 years after the end of the year in which the edition containing that arrangement was first published.<ref>Society of Authors, [https://www2.societyofauthors.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Guide-to-Copyright-and-Permissions.pdf Guidance on Copyright and Permissions], version 2, Section 1(b)(iv), published in September 2016, accessed on 7 October 2024</ref>