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Copyright News
Don't laugh. There is news at the U.S. Copyright Office.
Section numbers listed below refer to sections of U.S. copyright law.
Orphan Works—Section 108
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee continues to discuss
legislation concerning "orphan works"—copyrighted works whose
owners may be impossible to identify and locate. The issue comes up
when someone wants to make use of the work in a manner that
requires permission of the copyright owner. The committee asked the U.S.
Copyright Office to develop recommendations regarding orphan works.
The Copyright Office has been concerned by the
uncertainty surrounding ownership of such works, in that it could
needlessly discourage legitimate use of the works in new creative efforts
or
making such works available to
the public. Section 108 has major significance to libraries and archives,
who ask how to bring large numbers of orphan works to the public,
usually via the Internet.
The Copyright Office has a Section 108 Study Group, which is
a select committee of copyright experts, convened by the Library
of Congress and charged with updating for the digital world the
Copyright Act's balance between the rights of creators and copyright owners
and the needs of libraries and archives and others. Read about the
Section 108 Study Group and its work.
For any use of an orphan work, it's important to include
attribution if possible, as it is in the use of
any protected work. The attribution reminds the user that the
copyright owner might exist. Further, should the use of work be challenged,
the user must prove that a reasonable search for the copyright owner
was performed.
Anti-Circumvention—Section 1201
On November 27, the Librarian of Congress, on the recommendation
of the Register of Copyrights, published "Rulemaking on Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention of Technological Measures that Control Access to Copyrighted Works".
As you know, some protected works, such as e-books, have
technological safeguards that make retrieval or
duplication impossible without circumvention. On the other
hand, here's one of the six classes of works for which circumvention is
allowed with the new ruling:
Audiovisual works included in the educational library of
a college or university's film or media studies department,
when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose of
making compilations of portions of those works for educational use in
the classroom by media studies or film professors.
The law requires that such rulings be revisited every
three years. Consequently, persons making uses listed in the ruling can do
so until October 27, 2009.
Ringtones—Section 115
Well, you knew it had to happen. That cell phone ringtone that
identifies your teenaged daughter might be violating a copyright every time
she calls you. Not surprisingly, the Recording Industry Association
of America, Inc. (RIAA) brought a request for protection to the
Copyright Office in September. Almost a century ago, Congress added to
the Copyright Act the right for copyright owners to make and distribute,
or authorize others to make and distribute, mechanical reproductions
of their musical compositions. The act was originally enacted to address
the reproduction of musical compositions onto perforated player
piano rolls.
Ringtone discussion topics
included polyphonic vs.
monophonic vs. mastertones, whether or not a ringtone captures the "hook" of
a composition, and whether or not a ringtone is a "derivative work".
The ruling concludes with this sentence: "…[I]t is appropriate for the
Copyright Royalty Judges to determine royalties to be payable for
the making and distribution of ringtones under the compulsory license."
Read the complete ringtone ruling.
There's Always Something New
Find out what else the U.S. Copyright Office is talking about these
days, including the Google Book Search Library Project at the
Copyright Office Web site. Visit this
Web site also if you are considering protecting your work with a
copyright.
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