Online Journalism Blog

Claudia Holland, Chief Copyright Officer, had a very thought-provoking presentation today. She began with the three copyright traits:

1. Expression
2. Originality (because very little of our ideas are unique. It is all from things we’ve experienced)
3. Fixation

She also explained a bit about what protected and non-protected works were:

Protected Works

Plays, graphic works, sound recordings, etc. Thie list can go on and on and on.

Basically, almost anything is a protected work, besides:

Works Not Protected

Ideas (cannot be certain that you were the original producer of the thought), methods of operation, basic facts, titles, names, slogans (very interesting that slogans aren’t protected. I didn’t know this!)

So, generally, anything which was published prior to 1923 isn’t protected)

Rights of Copyright Owners (section 106)

What’s the point of having copyrighted material (in this case, a hit song)? This is why:

reproduction (CD’s), derivative (music video), public distribution (sell CD’s), public performance (concert tour), public display (concert T-shirts), digital audio transmission (podcasts) is at your YOUR choosing! (So, that’s why Michael Jackson wanted the rights to all the Beatles songs…)

Four Fair Use Factors (section 107)

1. Purpose & character of the use (why are you copying it?)
2. Nature of the work (for what ethical reasons are you copying?)
3. Amout & substantiality of the portion used
4. Effect of the use on the potential market (in the end, it’s all about the Benjamins!)

^^^ “In a court of law, fair use is used as a defense against claims of infringement.” ^^^

These were some of the main points that caught my attention from her presentation. So, the next time you decide to copy things onto your own website, make sure to remember everything here! It is much more important than you think!

In the end, it was really good to have Claudia speak to the class today and I have definitely learned a lot from what she taught us!