With how easy it is to share content these days, it’s important to understand some basics about copyright law. More people are content creators than ever before, so here are some things to keep in mind — not only to avoid getting into trouble but to protect any intellectual properties you may have.
What Can Be Copyrighted
Only these are the field where copyright can be enacted. The fields are as follows:
- Music
- Writing
- Visual art
- Dance choreography
- Movies
- Computer software
- Architecture
Obtaining Music Legally
Some musicians have been known to encourage fans to pirate their music. If somebody tells you it’s okay to pirate their albums, think twice, because they may not actually own the rights to that music, even if they wrote and recorded it themselves. For example, Michael Jackson famously directed his lawyer, John Branca, to obtain the publishing rights to the Beatles’ music. Jackson was obviously not part one of the Fab Four, yet he owned their music.
Obtaining A Copyright
While it’s true that a song is immediately protected to some degree by copyright law once it has been recorded in some fashion, registering the piece with the U.S. Copyright Service is recommended. Enlisting the help of an Entertainment and Corporate Lawyer can help you make sure your work is protected to the fullest extent; especially if you plan to have a third-party publisher involved.
Utilizing Fair Use
Certain parameters allow for copyrighted works to be utilized without express permission from the owner. Many factors are considered when determining what is considered fair use, including how much of the work has been used and whether it will affect the owner’s marketability. For example, a pirated album affects the copyright owner’s market because that’s one less album that may have been purchased if that person hadn’t gotten it for free.
Protection of Author’s Creation
When someone create or discover anything, he/she get delighted after finish the job. Authors are among them. But some people don’t bother to steal their discover. In this way the real author loses their royalty for their works from the publishers. But after copyright protection development only license holder can get privileged to print some particular work. If any publisher violates this rule, they could be sue by the original publisher who has licensed for it.
How to Get a Copyright
When you finish a specific work and set it for use, from that minutes it is under “Copyright Protection.” That means copyright creates automatically. Copyright is created for any creative work of art that you produced.
Alternative Copyright Registration
There are some companies that provide some application form of copyright protection, but there is no such substitute for actual copyright registration.
Conclusion
Copyright law can be intimidating, but without it, artists would really struggle to make a living. Generally, if you keep in mind that you need to obtain permission from the right people before sharing or using a work that isn’t yours, it’s easy to stay within copyright laws. Understanding fair use doctrines also allows people to use copyrighted works without going through all the red tape.