Copyright
copyright: an overview
The U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101 - 810, is Federal
legislation enacted by Congress under its Constitutional grant of authority
to protect the writings of authors. See U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section
8. Changing technology has led to an ever expanding understanding of the word
"writings." The Copyright Act now reaches architectural design, software,
the graphic arts, motion pictures, and sound recordings. See § 106 of the
act. Given the scope of the Federal legislation and its provision precluding
inconsistent state law, the field is almost exclusively a Federal one. See §
301 of the act.
A copyright gives the owner the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute,
perform, display, or license his work. See § 106 of the act. The owner
also receives the exclusive right to produce or license derivatives of his or
her work. See § 201(d) of the act. Limited exceptions to this exclusivity
exist for types of "fair use", such as book reviews. See § 107
of the act. To be covered by copyright a work must be original and in a concrete
"medium of expression." See § 102 of the act. Under current law,
works are covered whether or not a copyright notice is attached and whether
or not the work is registered.
The federal agency charged with administering the act is the Copyright
Office of the Library of Congress. See § 701 of the act. Its regulations
are found in Parts 201 - 204 of title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
In 1989 the U.S. joined the Berne Convention for the Protection of
Literary and Artistic Works.
The same copyright protections exist for the author of a work regardless
of whether the work is in a database, CD-ROM, bulletin board, or on the Internet.