Copyrights
Copyright law is among the most powerful and least expensive means of protecting your tangible creations. Copyright protection arises upon creation of an original work in a fixed form and even more rights may be secured by filing a simple and inexpensive registration with the United States Copyright Office. Lipton, Weinberger & Husick lawyers have years of experience assisting clients with copyright applications, enforcement, contracting, and licensing. Here are some brief facts about copyright. You can also find a wealth of information online at
www.copyright.gov.Copyright refers to the right granted to authors with respect to their original works. Copyright law grants the owner the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:
- To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
- To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
- To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
- To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
- To display the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and
- In the case of sound recordings,* to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.
However there are certain exceptions to that right, the major ones falling under the heading of "fair use". Fair use exceptions include copying portions of a copyrighted work for purposes of commentary or humor. There are many other exceptions.
Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.
Learn more at www.copyright.gov or contact Adam G. Garson, Esquire