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Copyright and Public Access changed drastically at the end of the 20th Century. One side effect of the information overload with the need to establish ownership and legal controls for the information assets.
Goal: To acquire a foundation in basic copyright issues and alternatives. Lots of reading, most of it is pretty interesting! If you are doing anything in information management (library, data, web), you will need at least a basic familiarity with these issues.
The quiz is 25 questions (2 points each) and is open book. You have a fixed time limit of 3 hours to complete the exam. You do not have to complete the exam in one sitting. You may save your work and return later.
Copyright and Information Usage
When you are working with information, you will need to use caution and consideration in the handling, display, reproduction and storage of that information. This is true regardless of the format of the information: it can be a mathematical formula, a novel, a piece of software code or a photograph. Most countires worldwide have a series of laws to define and protect the ownership of the material record of the creative act. Attorney Richard Stim explains below:
How Intellectual Property Law Works
Intellectual property law is an umbrella term for all the statutes, government regulations and court decisions that together determine who owns intellectual property and what rights go along with that ownership. In addition, intellectual property law specifies:
- the conditions under which intellectual property rights may be sold or loaned (licensed) to others for specific purposes
- how to settle contract disputes that arise from marketing intellectual property, and
- how to take advantage of government procedures and programs that establish or enhance protection of intellectual property rights.
Intellectual property law primarily offers protection to the owner of intellectual property by giving the owner the right to file a lawsuit asking a court to enforce whatever rights are being transgressed. As a result, some experts describe intellectual property laws as "affirmative rights" rather than as "protection." Noted patent attorney and author David Pressman suggests thinking of intellectual property laws as tools that can be used when needed, but not as any kind of defensive shield. In other words, intellectual property laws won't prevent someone from stepping on the owner's rights. But the laws do give an owner the ammunition to take a trespasser to court. For example, upon request of the copyright owner, a court will halt unauthorized copying of material protected by the copyright. But if the copyright owner does not sue the copier, no action will be taken and the copier will get away with this illegal behavior.
Types of intellectual property laws
Intellectual property law consists of several discrete legal categories. Although these categories can overlap with respect to a particular intellectual property, they each have their own characteristics and terminology.
- Trade secret law affords the owner of commercial information that provides a competitive edge the right to keep others from using such information if the information was improperly disclosed to or acquired by a competitor and the owner of the information took reasonable precautions to keep it secret.
- Copyright law protects all types of original creative expression, such as that produced by authors, composers, artists, designers, programmers and Web page designers. However, copyright law does not protect the ideas and concepts underlying an expressive work; it only protects the literal form the expressive work takes. For example, copyright protects the actual words used to write a novel about life on a submarine where the crew faces almost certain death because of damaged engines. But copyright won't prevent other writers from either writing novels about submarine life or using the same basic plot, as long as they don't copy the first novelist's literal expression. Copyright protection lasts a long time, often 100 years or more.
- Trademark law protects the distinctive (unique, creative or well known through use) names, designs, logos, slogans, symbols, colors, packaging, containers and any other devices that are used by businesses to identify the source of their goods and services, and distinguish them in the marketplace. This protection can last indefinitely.
- Patent law gives the inventor of a new and nonobvious invention the right to exclusive use of that invention for a limited term. How long the inventor retains the exclusive right depends on the kind of patent. A utility patent (the most common type of patent) goes into effect when issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and expires 20 years after the application for the patent was filed. A design patent (for an inventive but nonfunctional design) lasts 14 years after the date the patent issues. A plant patent expires 20 years from the date the patent was file
from the book 'Patent, Copyright & Trademark: An Intellectual Property Desk Reference' by Richard Stim; Nolo Books
Our reading is a compilation of comments (mostly lawyers) about Fair Use of a logo in Wikipedia
A church logo was posted on wikipedia and was removed many times, with the church claiming that the logo was copyright and could not be posted on the web without permission. In reaction, a discussion began at wikipedia: Talk:Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod you can read the current version or the archived version .
Our readings from the CNI copyright list pose a number of questions about what is copyrightable and what is fair use.
Select one position, among those listed in our reading (or create your own position) and prepare yourself to argue that position. Use your other readings to find points to back up your position. Since many of the posters to the CNI-COPYRIGHT list are copyright lawyers, you might want to search that list for support, as well.
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