© Summary of issues
- Ensuring copyright to publish the work of faculty and staff
- Ensuring ownership of the work of outside developers
- Not infringing on the copyrights of others
- Protecting the organization/institution's ownership of materials
» Protected works
Copyright protects "original works of authorship" that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. Copyrightable works include:
- Written texts, including unpublished drafts
- Computer programs and scripts, including shareware software programs
- Music
- Dramatic works
- Pictures, photos and digital graphics
- Audio and visual works in all fixed media
» Unprotected works
Several types of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include:
- Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, performances or lectures that have not been recorded and improvised speeches or lectures that have not been written or recorded)
- Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, or principles described in copyrighted works
- Facts
- Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans that have not been trademarked
- Common symbols or designs
- Typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring
- Listings of names, ingredients, or contents
- Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources)
- Works in the public domain, including U.S. government works
- Logical compilations (such as phone books)
- Freeware software programs
» Use of copyright notice
Copyright notice is no longer needed to identify works as copyrightable--copyright ownership is automatically given to the author of a work at the time a work is "fixed" in a tangible medium (even if a work has not been published or registered).
However, copyright notice is useful because it:
- Informs the public that the work is protected by copyright
- Identifies the copyright owner
- Shows the year of first publication.
If a work is infringed, proper copyright notice on the published work helps protect the copyright owner against a "good faith" defense based on innocent infringement that may mitigate actual or statutory damages. (Innocent infringement occurs when the infringer did not realize that the work was protected.)
The most common structure of copyright notice is:
Copyright (or the © symbol), year of fixation, name of the copyright owner
The use of copyright notice is the responsibility of the copyright owner and does not require advance permission or registration from the U.S. Copyright Office.
