Works Made For Hire : The General Rule Of Copyright Ownership

An Introduction to the Law and Economics of Intellectual Property Author(s): Stanley M. Besen and Leo J. Raskind Reviewed work(s): Source: The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Winter, 1991), pp. 3-27 Published by: American Economic Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1942699 . Accessed: 24/11/2011 08:39

Nowadays, the world of music has become one of the favorite ways to enjoy daily activities with people. Moreover, the technology provides an opportunity to people to learn how to produce music. However, here comes a serious problem with the convenience of the easy accessibility to get the music resources, it caused the problems of indiscriminate use and pirated copyright.

Copyrights are more limited in scope than patents. They protect the original works of authorship, not the ideas they contain. In the United States, original works include literary, drama, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. A computer program, for example, is considered a literary work and is protected by copyright. A copyright gives its owner the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute the material or perform or display it publicly. However, copyright law does permit limited reproduction of copyrighted works without the owner 's permission for “fair use” such as criticism, teaching, and news reporting. In the United States, a published work must have a copyright notice, the name

This paper discusses the copyright law in Canada connected with an ethical line in music sharing. Before embarking on the discussion, it is imperative to understand what copyright entails under the umbrella of intellectual property; the latter refers to intangible property, which is entirely a creation of the mind (Alexander & Penalver, 2012, p. 188). Copyright is the exclusive right granted to the original author of literary work. In this effect, it prevents other people from using an authorship without authorization by the original author. The latter grants license for the reproduction of copies of the work, its usage, as well as distribution in lieu of some fee, i.e. royalty. Merges (2011) explains that literary work encompasses a wide

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

Over the past fifty years, the British Music Publishing industry has undergone dramatic changes. It has evolved as an entity with innovations in technology, changes and creations of laws and new mediums to promote and exploit songs to a wider audience. Therefore, the way in which the music publishing industry operates and exploits its assets has completely transformed, and continues to do so at a rapid pace. This paper will attempt to explore the ways in which publishers exploit song copyrights and the way in which this has changed over the past 60 years. It is important to define what is meant by copyright and its role within the industry. The Performing Right Society website states: “Copyright

Copyright laws must be flexible in addressing and supplementing the needs of Australia’s modern society. However, the failure of the existing, and outdated Copyright Act 1968 (Cwth) in fulfilling the needs of the Australian public has triggered the need for copyright reform. Copyright reform aims to reconsider the relationship between copyright, innovation, technology, research, and economic growth, where it would provide flexible laws fundamental to the broad dissemination of knowledge. Copyright laws should strike a balance between the interests of the creator and the Australian public in terms of access to knowledge, culture and education. Copyright reform aims to

“Works Made for Hire” means that if you are commissioned to create work, or if an employer contracts with you to create the work as part of your job, the employer becomes your client, and automatically owns the copyright for the work that you created.

Glynn claims that he is joint owner of the copyright to RUST under the Copyright Act and seeks a declaratory judgment under the Declaratory Judgment Act. Facepunch argues that Glynn has pled that claim with insufficient particularity. Facepunch also argues that the first contract between Facepunch and Glynn shows that Facepunch did not intend for Glynn to have any ownership interest in RUST.

A copyright gives the originator of literary, artistic, or music works the right to perform, publish, record, or print them. This can include sound recordings, paintings, photographs, films, melodies, television, radio broadcasts, cable programs, performances, and even codes to computer programs (Legal Information Institute). Since copyrights cover several different types of materials, the duration varies depending on what work is being protected. According to the Copyright Act of 1976, musical, artistic, and literary works created after January 1, 1978 have copyrights that last 70 years after the author has passed away, 95 years after publication, or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first (United States Copyright Office, 2011). However, the published editions of these works have copyrights that last 25 years after being first published. Broadcast and cable programs, on the other hand, have a copyright duration of 50 years after being created

There are four types of intellectual property rights and the law recognizes your right to own this intellectual property. Jimmy is able to use trademark, patent, and trade secret for his invention. Jimmy is able to trademark “AreYouThere?”, this is his distinguished slogan for his machine to determine if someone is a zombie and should protect his unique name. Although it is not necessary to apply with the government to obtain the rights to a trademark, it is advantageous to register it. The advantages of registering your trademark are having exclusive national rights to use it for your goods, the ability to not allow importation into the U.S. of goods that bear this mark, and also the right to sue in federal court. The second intellectual property right that Jimmy can utilize is a patent. A utility patent provides protection for his invention. Jimmy will have to file a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. A patent is good for 20 years as long as the person or company pays the periodic maintenance fees that are required. The third

These employee’s include engineers, assistants, secretaries, drivers, human resources, trainers, marketers and accounting, all employees indirectly related to the production and sale of the product.

Many employment rights are highly dependent on the ability to establish the status of an employee. However there is no useful statutory definition on ‘employee’. The closest definition can be found in the Employment Right Acts 1996 (ERA 1996), section 230(1), but it is in a form of a circular, and thus it is of little help. Therefore, it is left to the courts to define what is an employee. Over the years, a number of tests have been developed to help the courts to make judgement. The employment status test identifies that, the employer has an obligation to provide work for the employee and there must be a reciprocate obligation by the employee. Failing these, a person is unlikely be classed as an employee (Bebbington Palmer). However, the application of these tests is not always easy or straightforward.

Music copyright is the right to exclusively reproduce original music or works of an individual or group of musical creators. This right is granted by the Australian Law. This gives the writer a legal control of his or her original work, meaning, the subject can dictate how it should be used and distributed. The music author therefore has the right to take legal action upon anyone who uses the work without permission. (Christie 2012 np) Copyright infringement on the other hand is violation of this patent’s right. This right is mainly invaded in two ways, unauthorised download from, an unlicensed source or, unpermitted distribution of the music to other parties. The latter faces heftier penalties because in the eyes of the law, it is akin to stealing. (Larsson et.al 2014 p. 17)

Music licensing is certainly not the ideal solution to maintain the integrity of the art. Music licensing has created situation in which people actually have to pay to use folk songs such as "Happy Birthday" in certain circumstances. The company that owns the license to the song actually receives millions of dollars every year for a song that nobody knows who originally wrote. However, compensating artists for their works is a complicated endeavor and does not receive much public funding in a capitalist system. Therefore, even though the licensing practice may be counter-productive the art form and overly commercialized, it is a necessary evil that must be tolerated in modern society.