What is Copyright?
Copyright is a form of protection granted by the law of a country for original works of authorship. When anyone prepare an original work of literature, art, music or any other creative work, the person automatically own the copyright to it.The author/creator of the original work will have the exclusive rights to reproduce the work (make copies) and distribute the work, public performance of the work (drama, play, musical concert etc) and to make derivative of the work (adaptation or translation). It means, no one can do any of the things mentioned above to the copyrighted works in any form without the permission of the copyright owner.
There are some limitations and exceptions to the copyright and one such case is the "Fair Use".
Works Protected by Copyright
Copyright may apply to a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms, or "works".- Literary works (poems, theses, fiction, plays and other literary works)
- Motion pictures, choreography, musical compositions, sound recordings
- Paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs
- Computer software
- Radio and television broadcasts, and
- Industrial and architectural designs.
What is not Protected?
Copyright will not protect the ideas or principles covered in a work. It will not protect names of products, titles, business names, slogans, formulas etc. Works that are not in a tangible form (written, audio, video or artworks) will not be protected under copyright. For example a public speech delivered by someone will not be copyrighted unless it is recorded in written or recorded format.Copyright Infringement
If anyone uses a copyrighted work in way that exploits the rights of the original owner as provided by the copyright laws, it is called copyright infringement. The terms "theft" or "piracy" or "freebooting" is used to refer to copyright infringement. The violator of copyright may have to pay penalty as per the laws existing in the country.Piracy refers to unauthorized copying and distribution of copyrighted materials. It is common in the case of films, music and publishing industry. The term freebooting refers to the act of downloading someone else's copyright-protected material, often from YouTube, and uploading it into sites like FaceBook,Twitter and similar websites.
Fair Use
Fair use permits the usage of copyrighted material without the permission of its copyright owner. Fair use allows limited rights of copying the material for educational and research purposes. Also if you are writing a literary criticism, commentary or report, it is not violation of copyright.Indian Copyright Act 1957
The copyright in India is governed by Copyright Act 1957 which was amended in 2012. The first copyright legislation in India was the Indian Copyright Act, 1914.The following are protected under the Act:
- artistic work including a painting, a sculpture, a drawing (including a diagram, map, chart or plan), an engraving, a photograph, a work of architecture or artistic craftsmanship, dramatic work,
- literary work (including computer programmes, tables, compilations and computer databases),
- musical work (including music as well as graphical notation),
- sound recording, and
- cinematograph film
The duration of copyright protection in case of literarcy, dramatic and artistic works is the lifetime of the author + sixty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the author dies. Other cases, it is sixty years from the beginning of the calendar years next following the year in which the work is first published.
The infringement of copyright is a cognizable offence punishable with for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to three years with a fine which shall not be less than INR 50,000 but may extend to INR 2,00,000.
Trademark and Patent
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a recognizable sign, design, or expression which identifies products or services of a particular source from those of others, although trademarks used to identify services are usually called service marks. (Wikipedia).A trademark may be designated by the following symbols:
- ™ (the "trademark symbol", which is the letters "TM" in superscript, for an unregistered trademark, a mark used to promote or brand goods)
- ℠ (which is the letters "SM" in superscript, for an unregistered service mark, a mark used to promote or brand services)
- ® (the letter "R" surrounded by a circle, for a registered trademark)
A trademark registration may remain in force indefinitely, or expire without specific regard to its age.
Patent
A patent is a right granted to an inventor by the federal government that permits the inventor to exclude others from making, selling or using the invention for a period of time. The patent system is designed to encourage inventions that are unique and useful to society. In most countries the term of rights for patents is 20 years.Plagiarism
Plagiarism is to steal and pass the ideas of some else as your own ideas. Copying ideas or words from a work and using it without giving due credit to the rightful owner is plagiarism. Plagiarism can be avoided if you cite the sources of the original idea or content.Using poems, articles or other writing you found on the web without providing citation to the original creator is plagiarism. So whenever you take such material from the Internet do look for the copyright and usage policy.
Public Domain
The term “public domain” refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. It can be under public domain when it was created or it may fall to public domain once its copyright is expired or forfeited.
For example, the works by famous authors like William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Lewis Carrol, Edgar Allen Poe and the like are all under public domain now. That means Anyone can use their works without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it.
If you find an e-book on the Internet, that does not mean that it is under public domain. That may be a pirated copy or an illegal copy.
Links to Public Domain Materials
- Internet Archive : A digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form.
- Wikimedia Commons: freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute
- Library of Congress Digital Collections: World's largest library offering free digital content. Some may be copyrighted.
- Europeana Collections: Europe's digital platform for cultural heritage.
- The Commons Flickr: hidden treasures from the world's public photography archives
- Wikisource: the free library that anyone can improve
- Free ebooks - Project Gutenberg: offers over 54,000 free eBooks
- Open Images: an open media platform that offers online access to audiovisual archive material to stimulate creative reuse.
- Creative Commons: legally share your knowledge and creativity to build a more equitable, accessible, and innovative world
No comments:
Post a Comment