Summary of December 20 meeting on Copyright
Presenter: Laura Gasaway
Many thanks to Lolly for the presentation and for corrections to this summary.
Lolly pointed out that she is director of the law library and a professor of law at UNC-CH, but that she does not speak for the University. Direct questions to Susan Ehringhaus' office about the law, University policy, and the like.
Lolly spoke about existing copyright law.
What is eligible?
Originality and creativity are required.
Fixation -- for example, on paper or disk.
Term of copyright is life of the author plus 50 years (likely increasing
to 70 years soon). For a corporate author, 75 years after publication. For a
group, term is based on the life of the last living author.
Notice of copyright:
Optional since 1988. Though it is not required, it's a good idea to
include a copyright notice to remind people.
The copyright act is technology neutral.
Rights of the copyright holder:
reproduction, distribution, adaptation, performance, display.
Fair Use:
Specifics that are not an infringement of copyright depend on the purpose
and character of use, nature of the copyrighted work, amount, and market
effect. Must be judged on a case-by-case basis.
The Internet and copyright:
Copyright belongs to the author; this includes submissions to lists.
Just because you find something on the Internet doesn't mean it is there
by permission.
Links are pointers; they're fine.
If we put copyrighted information in the Web without permission, we can be sued personally; the University also might be liable. Clear any questions with the University Counsel re specific inclusions, etc.
Use the registered trademark symbol (R with cirle around it) to show use of registered trademarks, such as University mascots and logos.
Companies are getting started that will police copyright on the net.
If a work is copyrighted, seek permission. Keep permission on file. If it was granted via e-mail, print the message and file it.
Get permission to use UNC-CH campus photos or take your own pictures.
Web sites:
Bleeding edge Internet issues: http://www.benedict.com/webiss.htm#webiss
(Note: that's htm not html)
There is a huge amount in the public domain that may be freely incorporated into home pages, particularly material with expired copyrights. See http://www.netgate.net/~bmb/PubDomain.html for a table of when works pass into public domain.
Federal documents are in the public domain, but state documents may not be in the public domain.
Infringement is a serious matter.
US Copyright Office: telnet locis.loc.gov
or marvel.loc.gov (this second one didn't work for me; asked for a
login; but locis.loc.gov gets the jobs done)
http://www.directory.net/copyright (Copyright Clearance Center)
Internet discussion groups:
send to cni-copyright@cni.org subscribe cni-copyright your-first-name your-last-name send to listserver@birds.wm.edu [yes, it is listserver, not listserv] subscribe cyberia-l@birds.wm.edu your-first-name your-last-name (includes computer people too)Attendees: