We have prepared a flowchart setting forth some general guidelines regarding the duration of United States federal statutory copyright. There are a number of exceptions to these guidelines. In most cases, these exceptions may involve expiration prior to the theoretical date indicated. However, in some cases, copyright protection may continue past the indicated date. In addition, some remnants of state common law copyright protection continue to exist, and may provide protection even when federal copyright does not. See, e.g., Capitol Records, Inc. v. Naxos of Am., Inc., 4 N.Y.3d 540 (2005) (holding that New York state common law copyright protects sound recordings made before 1972 until February 15, 2067).
View the flowchart.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Comparison of Types of Intellectual Property
What are the types of intellectual property, and what are the differences among them? We try to answer these questions succinctly, based on current U.S. law. The classic IP types are copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets.
In the United States, federal copyright law protects a wide range of works, including literary works; musical works and lyrics; dramatic works; pantomimes and choreographic works; pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; motion pictures and other audiovisual works; sound recordings; and architectural works, and computer programs. Federal copyright law is set forth in Title 17 of the U.S. Code.
Under current U.S. law, a copyright begins on the date that a work is created and lasts until 70 years after its author’s death. If the author is anonymous or pseudonymous, or if the work is made for hire, the copyright term is 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever expires first.
The copyright in a work is separate from the work itself and, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the copyright is not transferred when the work itself is sold or given away. Thus, an artist who creates a painting and sells it to a collector has not given up the copyright in the work and may prevent the collector from making and selling posters or postcards of the painting. Although the collector does not own the copyright in the work, he or she does have the right to display and sell the work itself. (More)
Copyrights
Copyright law protects original works of authorship, such as books, films, music, but many other things as well. Copyright law protects only the original expression set forth in those works, however, and not the underlying ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, and discoveries themselves. In other words, copyright protects how something is expressed, not what is expressed.In the United States, federal copyright law protects a wide range of works, including literary works; musical works and lyrics; dramatic works; pantomimes and choreographic works; pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; motion pictures and other audiovisual works; sound recordings; and architectural works, and computer programs. Federal copyright law is set forth in Title 17 of the U.S. Code.
Under current U.S. law, a copyright begins on the date that a work is created and lasts until 70 years after its author’s death. If the author is anonymous or pseudonymous, or if the work is made for hire, the copyright term is 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever expires first.
The copyright in a work is separate from the work itself and, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the copyright is not transferred when the work itself is sold or given away. Thus, an artist who creates a painting and sells it to a collector has not given up the copyright in the work and may prevent the collector from making and selling posters or postcards of the painting. Although the collector does not own the copyright in the work, he or she does have the right to display and sell the work itself. (More)
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