Got That Copyright?

Copyright infringement hit the news last week, but Napster had nothing to do with it. And, in this case, the issue revolves around DVDs, rather than MP3s.

On Friday, February 13, 2004, the DVD Copy Control Association filed a lawsuit against 321 Studios for allegedly infringing patent rights on its DVD copy protection. The DVD CCA is responsible for licensing the Content Scramble System (CSS) to manufacturers of DVD equipment. The CSS allows consumers to view DVDs, while preventing them from illegally duplicating the content.

The lawsuit's defendant, 321 Studios, is being accused of providing software that gets around the CSS, allowing people to copy DVDs. The suit is the fourth set of claims to be filed against 321 Studios, which markets the most popular DVD copying software commercially available.

While the primary issue is a patent infringement rather than a copyright infringement, the first directly affects the second.

A patent typically covers inventions, protecting the rights of the inventor. In this case, the CSS is the invention, which 321 Studios has allegedly used as a basis for its DeCSS software. A copyright, on the other hand, protects a broader spectrum of original work, often referred to as "intellectual property." Copyrights typically protect various works of art and literature, which includes movies on DVD.

In a world where more and more people have access to media and the means to get around such protections, it's important to know what a copyright means, what's open to "fair use," how you can avoid getting slapped with a lawsuit, and how you can protect your own work from getting stolen.

So for this week's lesson, you'll find out what exactly a copyright is and how it works, and review the history of copyrights, along with some real court cases where judges had to sort through the grey areas of the law.

Copyright Basics

Begin by visiting the Copyright & Fair Use Center at the Stanford University Libraries, an excellent site to understand any and all copyright issues.

For now, let's start with the Overview section, and browse through the Copyright Basics FAQs.What types of work are protected? Why is the requirement of having the work be in a "fixed in a tangible medium of expression" important? How long does a copyright last, and what factors do you think may have influenced these standards?

Next, go to Copyright Protection: What It Is, How It Works. Why is displaying a "valid copyright notice" important, even though by law it's no longer necessary? What exactly do the Berne Convention and GATT treaty cover? How do copyrighted works become "public domain," and what does that mean in terms of use? Do these laws cover content on the Internet?

Now check out, Copyright Ownership: Who Owns What? What are the exceptions to the rule that the creator owns the property? What kinds of details might joint authors need to discuss and agree upon to avoid conflicts down the road? What rights do copyright owners have, and how can they transfer those rights to someone else?

Also browse the sections on Fair Use (particularly the Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors page) and The Public Domain, so you know what's okay to use in your work as a student, for example, and what is not okay.

Feel free to return to this site any time to review the Introduction to the Permissions Process, Website Permissions, Academic and Educational Permissions, and any of the other helpful sections, as needed.

Copyright Cases

Laws are initially created by our government's legislative branch, but they are interpreted and refined by the judicial branch. Copyright laws are no exception to this rule.

So now that you understand today's principles of copyright use, let's uncover the history of how those principles were shaped.

Start with the Timeline: A History of Copyright in the United States, hosted at the Association of Research Libraries.

Read the introduction, then scroll down through the 18th-19th Centuries and the 20th-21st Centuries.

Where did American copyright law originate, and how did it come about? How did the early American Congress provide law-based incentives for writers and artists, and why did they do so? How did the string of acts and treaties over the years shape the nature of copyright law?

In what way did the Wheaton v. Peterson case affect the notion of a creator's "natural perpetual right" to his work? Do you agree with the judgment in the Stowe v. Thomas case? How have the courts dealt with fair use issues with regard to the medical profession, schools, factual information, computer software, DVDs, etc.? On what factors or evidence did the courts base their judgments?

Lastly, visit the Copyright Website, where you'll get a taste of some additional copyright cases. To hear or view any related clips, you will need the Windows Media Player.

Browse through the cases in the Visual, Audio, and Digital sections. In what ways are the cases similar to each other? How are they different? How were the disputes resolved or left unresolved? How do you think those cases influence today's copyright issues?

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Newspaper Activities

In a current issue of Targetnewspaper, find stories related to copyright issues. If you find an article about a copyright dispute, who are the parties involved and what is at stake for each of them? How are they attempting to resolve the issue? If the courts are involved, what evidence are they examining and what is or could be their decision on the case and why? Also, look for items in the newspaper that are or might be protected by copyright laws. How can you determine if an item is copyrighted? In what ways is the "intellectual property" protected? Could parts of the work be used under the terms of "fair use"? Why or why not?