What is originality?

One of the two requirements for something to be entitled tocopyright protection is that it must be original (the other requirement is that the original work must be fixed in a tangible medium).  This essentially means that there must be some amount of creativity used in creating the work - the author must have done some independent creation. Obviously, if you simply copy a work, your copied work is not entitled to protection because it is not original. Similarly, if your work consists of nothing more than information from the public domain, you cannot protect it with copyright.

However, this is a relatively easy standard to meet and the level of creativity required for copyright protection is not very high. For example, if you film a real world event, your movie can be protected by copyright even though there may not be much creativity on your part. Similarly, a tourist photograph of a landmark would be original, because the tourist picked the angle, the framing, etc., even though many similar photographs of the same landmark have been taken. The creation of a telephone listing, however, does not meet this originality requirement because there is not even a minimal level of creativity.

The originality requirement does not mean that you have to create something that has never been created before (so there is no novelty requirement, as there is in patent law). From a practical sense, this means that there can be independent creation, where two people create the same thing at the same time, and both authors will be entitled to protection for their work (whereas patent law only awards patent protection to one inventor).

While the originality requirement means there must be some minimal amount of creativity, it does not mean that the work needs to have any artistic merit. So a judgment of the work’s quality does not come into play - the focus is simply on the work’s creation and the level of creativity used.

What is fixation?

One of the two requirements for something to be entitled tocopyright protection is that it must be fixed in a tangible medium(the other requirement is that the fixed work must be original). This essentially means that the work must be embodied in a copy which allows it to be seen or copied by others. The fixation requirement is a relatively easy standard to meet. Examples of sufficient fixation include writing something on a piece of paper or typing something into a computer and then saving/storing that information. Fixation does not include something which is simply spoken, unless it was either previously written down or the speech is being recorded (because the recording process fixes the speech in a tangible medium). However, fixation does not have to be directly perceptible by a person, it just has be capable of being perceived with the help of a machine or device – this is why fixation on a computer disk or RAM is sufficient to meet this requirement, because a computer can aid a user in perceiving that information.

For sounds or images which are being transmitted, fixation is at the time of transmission if the sounds or images are also being recorded at that time. So a live television show, of an NFL game for example, is generally recorded at the same time it is being aired live, meaning the fixation requirement is met and the live program can be protected by copyright.

Finally, while federal copyright law does not protect works which are not fixed, common law (which is law made by the courts, rather than by statute), may protect unfixed works.

What is a copyright?

A copyright is a legal right the government grants to the author of an original work, such as a book or song, which gives the author certain exclusive rights in that work. In other words, for a specific amount of time, the owner of a copyright (generally, but not always, the author of the work) can control how his work is used, copied, displayed, etc., and prevent others from doing such things without the owner’s permission.

While the rights granted to a copyright owner are exclusive (meaning that the owner, and the owner alone, can exercise those rights), there are some predefined and limited exceptions. For example, one right granted to a copyright owner is the exclusiveright to reproduce. Thus the owner of a copyright in a book is the only one allowed to make copies of that book. However, if you want to write a review of that book, you can copy a paragraph from the book to include in your review without infringing the copyright because this is fair use (one of the predefined exceptions to the exclusive copyright rights).

What is a tangible medium?

The Copyright Act requires that a work of authorship be fixed in a tangible medium. There are two categories of objects which qualify as tangible medium - copies and phonorecords.

The Copyright Act defines a copy as any material object other than phonorecords, which allows a work to be fixed so that they can later be seen, copied or communicated, either directly or with the help of a device. This is a broad definition that includes everything from books and computer disks to wall carvings.

The Copyright Act defines a phonorecord as any material object which allows sounds (except for the sounds that go with a movie or audiovisual work) to be fixed so that they can later be heard, copied or communicated. So phonorecords are albums, tapes, CDs, etc.

What is the difference between ideas and expressions?

One of the fundamental properties of copyright law is that only expressions are protected, not ideas. For example, while the plot, dialogue, images, etc. of The Matrix movies are protected by copyright

(because these are all expressions of an idea), the idea of a war between computers and humans, or a virtual reality world being used as a prison, is not protectable.

What works can be protected by copyright?

There are two initial requirements to protect a work as a copyright - it must be an original expression and it must be fixed in a tangible medium.

As for what types of work can be protected, the Copyright Actdefines eight broad categories. These eight categories are not exclusive, and every once in a while something come up which does not fall neatly within one of these categories - when this happens, the courts will typically address the issue.

These eight categories are:

(1) Literary works;

(2) Musical works;

(3) Dramatic works;

(4) Pantomimes or choreographic works;

(5) Pictorial, graphic or sculptural works;

(6) Motion pictures or audiovisual works;

(7) Sound recordings; and

(8) Architectural works.

In addition to these eight categories, the Copyright Act also provides for the protection ofcompilations (which includecollective works) and derivative works.

For all of these categories, the focus is on the nature of the work, not on the merit of quality of the work, in determining whether the work is protectable.

What is the idea-expression dichotomy?

One of the fundamental properties of copyright law is that only expressions are protected, not ideas. For example, while the plot,

dialogue, images, etc. of The Matrix movies are protected by copyright (because these are all expressions of an idea), the idea of a war between computers and humans, or a virtual reality world being used as a prison, is not protectable. This property of copyright law, and the distinction between ideas and expressions, is often referred to as the idea-expression dichotomy.

What is the Creative Commons?

Many folks find the currentcopyright laws monolithic and old-fashioned, particularly in light of the digital age. In an attempt to come up with a new scheme of reasonable and workable copyright protection, Creative Commons was created. As explained onwww.creativecommons.org, the goal of this nonprofit is to allow content creators to reserve important rights in their workswhile allowing and encouraging others to use the works in ways that the current copyright regime doesn’t necessarily allow for with explicit permission from the author.

The most widespread aspect of the Creative Commons, to date, has been the six creative common licenses.

What is a copy?

Within the context of copyrightlaw, a copy is any physical object, except for a phonorecord, that stores or fixes copyrighted works (such as a book, a film, a sculpture, a painting, etc.).

What is an author?

In terms of copyright law, an author is generally the person who creates a work. The exception to this rule is when the work is a so-called “work for hire,” in which case the author is deemed to be the creator’s employer. If two or more people create a work together, they are joint authors of the work.

What is a copyright?

A copyright is a legal right the government grants to the author of an original work, such as a book or song, which gives the author certain exclusive rights in that work. In other words, for a specific amount of time, the owner of a copyright (generally, but not always, the author of the work) can control how his work is used, copied, displayed, etc., and prevent others from doing such things without the owner’s permission.

While the rights granted to a copyright owner are exclusive (meaning that the owner, and the owner alone, can exercise those rights), there are some predefined and limited exceptions. For example, one right granted to a copyright owner is the exclusiveright to reproduce. Thus the owner of a copyright in a book is the only one allowed to make copies of that book. However, if you want to write a review of that book, you can copy a paragraph from the book to include in your review without infringing the copyright because this is fair use (one of the predefined exceptions to the exclusive copyright rights).