USA's Copyright Law

One of the most common, yet controversial, issues of First Amendment law is the subject of copyright and infringement. Although the subject may not seem major at first, many different issues and controversies have risen and become more common than ever over the years. The issues that have become pertinent to this subject are endless, including trademark infringement, piracy, theft, fraud, plagiarism, and many more. With the coming of age and advancement of technology, these cases have become more common and appear more often than ever before. Government officials have always been strict about copyright rulings, and have tried to deliver fair and just rulings for both parties involved under First Amendment rules. Because the owner’s work and material is protected under the First Amendment, it gets tricky when involving another party that can claim the same work of art. In short, the definition of copyright has always been cut and dry: allowing owners of creative works the right to control and profit from their creations. It is basically recognized as a form of property ownership.

The creators of works protected by copyright, and their successors (generally referred to as “right holders”), have certain basic rights under copyright law. They hold the exclusive right to use or authorize others to use the work on agreed terms. The right holder of a work can authorize or prohibit: its reproduction in all forms, including print form and sound recording, its public performance and communication to the public, its broadcasting, its translation into other languages, and its adaptation, such as from a novel to a screenplay for a film. Similar rights that the right holders may hold are: fixation (recording) and reproduction are granted under related rights. Many types of works protected under the laws of copyright and related rights require mass distribution, communication and financial investment for their successful disseminations (for example, publications, sound recordings and films). Hence, creators often transfer these rights to companies better able to develop and market the works, in return for compensation in the form of payments and/or royalties (compensation based on a percentage of revenues generated by the work). The economic rights relating to copyrights are of limited duration as provided for in the relevant World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties beginning with the creation and fixation of the work, and lasting for at least 50 years after the creator’s death. National laws may establish longer terms

After the period elapses, any person can use, print, publish, and distribute the original work. The music industry has been in dispute for many years in respect to music piracy. It went after software and website developers, as well as consumers in the courts (Easley, 2005, p.163). As a result, this may be why governing the expansion of the music industry towards later benefits for the industry; however, not toward those who pirate from them (Easley, 2005, p.163). There is clear evidence of a willingness to pay for online music in general through legal download services such as iTunes (Easley, 2005, p.163). It is clear that some new markets are emerging; for example, services such as 4G LTE combine music with other services. These markets may provide both better margins and better copyright protection to the music industry. Nevertheless, some forms of music piracy may ultimately come to be seen as an effective marketing channel for those services (Easley, 2005, p.163). Clearly the industry is adapting piracy issues.

In its beginning, the United States based its code of laws on the British Law (Moser & Slay, 2011, 16). Connecticut passed the first state copyright bill: an Act for the Encouragement of Literature and Genius in 1783 (Moser & Slay, 2011, 16). By 1786, twelve out of the thirteen states had passed copyright statutes. However, the fact that each state had its own copyright laws created inconsistency and inconvenience for enforcement from one state to another. A federal copyright law was necessary. On March 1783, the Continental Congress drafted the Constitutional Copyright Clause, which gave to the federal government the power to pass copyright laws (Moser & Slay, 2011, 17). The clause stipulated that the goal of the United States was to promote

Copyright laws apply to communication through electronic transmission if the work that is copied is intended to be retrieved and used by someone else, irrespective of whether members of the public avail themselves of that opportunity . An

Traditional legal principles and processes are constantly challenged by the need to keep pace with copyright issues in particular piracy. The Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015

Copyright is the legal right, to an inventor to perform, print, publish, film, or record artistic, literary, or musical material, and to allow others to do the same. Copyright law was developed to provide the creators and inventors of any works with powerful and effective rights of exclusivity over their creations (Patterson & Lindberg, 1991). Over the past, these rights were almost unlimited. People would use existing developments as if they were their own without any regard of the creator’s exclusive rights. The need to balance and limit such rights arose, and governments established these limits for the general good of the public.

For many years illegal file sharing and music swapping has been going on. Two very popular cases are the MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster case and the A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster case. Both cases differ in many ways however they also have similarities. A lot of music and other sorts of entertainment are being distributed for free all over the internet. What some people do not think of are the consequences that will be faced if they get caught. Not only is the distributor at risk for getting caught but those of us that download the software illegally can be charged.

1: A copyright is a form of protection given to authors or creators of “original works of authorship” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and other intellectual works.

Facts: Grokster, Ltd. and another company, StreamCast Networks Inc, created software that allowed users to share electronic files through a series of peer-to-peer networks on computers without using a central server. This software allowed users to share any type of digital file, but most people used the software to share and distribute copyright music and video files without permission of the copyright holders, which was encouraged by the software companies. As a response a group of movie studies and other copyright holders sued Grokster and StreamCast for the infringement on their copyrights, arguing that the software companies were knowingly and intentionally using their software

I learned from John that if one has a copyright, that means they own the right to produce whatever is copyrighted. Further, that person has the right to create derivative works of the copyright and control who makes derivative works as well. An example of a derivative work would be when someone makes a movie based off of a novel. Also, the person with the copyright has the power to distribute copies, transfer ownership, and decide who can perform or display the work in public. John also explained that the ownership of a copyright lasts a total of seven years, and after that, a copyright without ownership is called a public domain. That means it is free to use in the public world.

United States copyright law recognizes that certain portions of software are protected by copyright law. Like other items protected by copyright law, copyright protection attaches to software as soon as it is "fixed in a tangible medium"--for instance, when written to a disk.Copyright law requires a work to be presented in a "fixed, tangible medium." When computer software first appeared, courts saw it as intangible and labeled it a "utilitarian good" that arose from the running of source code on a machine. In 1980, Congress added computer software to the list of works protected by copyright under the U.S. Copyright Act. Congress clarified the rules surrounding software copyright in the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which prohibits

Copyright provides artist the ability to protect their works recreation by others but the law lacks clarity of every possible dispute. The first amendment protects people’s freedom of speech and gives them ability to create anything. The problem surfaces when copyright overrides free speech and

This case was quickly followed by another well-know copyright infringement through free software situation. As John Zelezny’s text, Communications Law: Liberties, Restraints, and the Modern Media, notes, “two companies, Grokster and StreamCast Networks, distributed free software that allowed users to share digital files through peer-to-peer networks where personal computers communicated directly with each other and not through a central service” (Communications Law: Liberties, Restraints and the Modern Media, 2011, p. 360).

Copyright protects the rights of any creator of content by giving them the legal power to do with their works as they choose. Once an original work has been created the owner then has the exclusive rights to sell, make copies, make other works based upon it, or place it on public display. (note: the work may belong to the