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Copyright Policy ?

Whenever a new noteworthy document is created, in the info section it has a place for a copyright notice. Is this implying that anything made with noteworthy is automatically copyrighted?

Re: Copyright Policy ?

Reply #1 –
Whether a piece is copyrighted or not depends almost entirely on local legislation.

In Australia (quick, dirty and simple explanation) once an original work is produced (printed/recorded - whatever) it is protected by copyright - proof can be a problem.  In the US I believe the situation is much the same BUT they have a copyright registration process which makes proof MUCH easier.

Copyright law is a minefield that I reckon even the copyright lawyers don't even fully understand.  I believe in copyright, but I don't believe in the extent to which it continues after the authors death.  That is simple abuse by corporations IMHO
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: Copyright Policy ?

Reply #2 –
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Whenever a new noteworthy document is created, in the info section it has a place for a copyright notice.

You can remove the text in those boxes if you choose.

Re: Copyright Policy ?

Reply #3 –
One little quirk of U.S. copyright law is that if a work is published without a copyright notice before it is published with one, the creator of the work loses the right to copyright it and it goes directly into the public domain. That is probably why Eric included an automatic copyright notice on every work. You have to fill in your name and the year to make it valid. But if you do that, yes, the work is covered automatically by copyright. Registration is, as Lawrie says, merely a means of making it easier to prove copyright to a work. There are other ways. One old standby, which I believe still works, is to send a copy to yourself via registered mail, have a notary stamp the unopened envelope after you receive it, and store the unopened envelope in a safe place. Cheaper and simpler than copyright registration. But the copyright notice must be on the work.

And I agree with Lawrie re the length of copyright. It should be for the creator''s lifetime, period. Here in the U.S. it has been extended by a variety of laws so that anything copyrighted after 1926 remains in copyright today. That is an oversimplification, but it is reasonably close to the truth. Before about 1976 it was necessary to renew the copyright after 26 years to keep it valid, so a few things fell out; but there are now processes for a creator's heirs to reinstate those copyrights, and many have done so. I do believe it is unfair to a creator to make him or her re-register after 26 years; but, much as I love my children and grandchildren, I don't believe they have a right to control my work after my death. Let it go public. As Woody Guthrie approximately said, "anyone who plays this song has my profound thanks 'cause that's what I writ it for in the first place."

Cheers,

Bill

Re: Copyright Policy ?

Reply #4 –
Hi, William -
Quote
One old standby, which I believe still works, is to send a copy to yourself via registered mail, have a notary stamp the unopened envelope after you receive it, and store the unopened envelope in a safe place.

Unfortunately, the Poor Man's copyright does not have legal standing in the United States - read here to see what Snopes.com has to say about it.

Additionally, I agree that current copyright limits are way too long.  Imagine if they implemented the same for patents; I would suspect technology would come to a screaming halt, as it could easily then take 100-150 years for derived works to appear.

In the US, current copyright is 70 years after the death of the composer.  It is not even currently tied to when the piece was written.  So in the future, to determine whether something is in the public domain, you have to 1) figure out who wrote it and 2) figure out if the composer is dead and 3) if so, when the composer died and add 70 years to it.  Give me a break.

That means that if I wrote a copyrighted song when I was 15 years old (it happens) and lived to be 100 years old (85 years later), the copyright on that piece would be 155 years.  So potentially, we're not just talking children and grandchildren here.  Given that the US is only 236 years old to start with, that seems like a travesty to me.

And it's not really about the authors, because for the most part, I believe it's really the big companies that own most of the copyrights anyway.  As I understand it, the biggest proponent of the Sonny Bono bill that extended protections from 50 years after death to 70 years after death, was Walt Disney Company, because the "mouse" was about to enter the public domain, and well, they just couldn't let that happen.  That's their bread and butter.  And of course the irony is that most of the music in the early great Disney movies were all public domain compositions for which Disney didn't have to pay a dime.  But they are definitely happy to keep collecting our dimes.

Doesn't seem right, does it?

I believe there should be a reasonable copyright period for which you benefit from your creation, but then it should go into the public domain so that others can do bigger and better things with it.  I don't know what it is, but 70-150 years seems excessive to me.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now.
John

Re: Copyright Policy ?

Reply #5 –
You may be right about the "poor man's copyright," John. It was something recommended back in the Folk Era by people such as Pete Seeger and the folks at Sing Out! magazine. With a dated notary's stamp across the envelope seal, it should establish how early the person who is claiming copyright had a copy of the work. What it cannot do is prove that no one else had a copy first.
 

Re: Copyright Policy ?

Reply #6 –

My country publishes its copyright law online, and the US does through the Library of Congress site.  I think the UK's law is online too, and I suspect the laws of most countries are now online too. 

The works of Gershwin and Waller are now public domain in some countries but not in the US.  That's just the way it is, fairly or unfairly. 

Since this is an international forum, and each country has its own copyright law, I suggest that each of us should be name the jurisdiction whose law we're writing about so casual readers don't get in trouble using information that doesn't apply to them.