Rule of Law

In the book it says, “Copyright law protects a variety of original expression, including art, sculpture, literature, music songs, choreography, crafts, poetry, software, photography, movies, video games, video, websites, architecture, and graphics. Protection occurs automatically—that is, you acquire copyright once you fix the work in a medium—but this automatic protection can be enhanced by registering the work with the U.S. Copyright Office.” In other words your no one is allowed to steal your work, but if you want more protect register. A work can only be copyrighted if it’s an original work and for it to be recognized an an original work. In the book is says, “It must be original—that is, the author must have created rather than copied.” So I don’t think any fan art can be protect by the copyright so keep that in mind. “It must be fixed in a tangible (concrete) medium of expression—for example, it should be recorded or expressed on paper, audio or videotape, computer disk, clay, or canvas.” And lastly, “It must have at least some creativity—that is, it must be produced by an exercise of human intellect. There is no hard and fast rule as to how much creativity is enough. To give an example, it must go beyond the creativity found in the telephone white pages, which involve a nondiscretionary alphabetic listing of telephone numbers rather than a creative selection of listings.” The only things copyright laws do not protect are ideas and facts. The book says, “it protect only the unique way in which ideas or facts are expressed.” So if you have a great idea for an art and you don’t want people to steal that idea, don’t spread it online or tell your friends and secretly apply it on your art. That’s the only advice I can give. What about an international copyright law? Does it apply the same way as it does here in the U.S.? Well, they are very similar due to several of international treaties. The most important treaty for artist are the Berne Convention. In the book it says, “Under this treaty, all member countries (in excess of 100 countries, including virtually all industrialized countries) must afford copyright protection to authors who are nationals of any member country.” but the international copyright protection doesn’t last very long, it only last about 50 plus years. Another thing that helps out with the international copyright law is GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). In the book is says, “GATT treaty contains a number of provision that affect copyright protection in signatory countries. Together, the Berne Copyright Convention and the GATT treaty allow U.S. authors to enforce their copyrights in most industrailized nations and allow the nationals of those nation to enforce the copyrights in the United States.” So to put things short, yes, your art will be protect in most countries. Just because you created it doesn’t mean you own it. In the book it say, “If a work is created by an employee in the course of the employment, the work is called a “work made for hire” and the copyright is made by an employer.” For example Spielberg doesn’t own Jurassic Park, but Universal owns it. “If the work is commissioned and the parties sign a written work-made for hire agreement, the copyright will be owned by the commissioning party.” And “If the author sells (“assigns”) the copyright to someone else, the purchasing person or business owns the copyright.” Well what happens if some one steals/copies your work? What action can you take? Well, in the book it says, “In the even someone infringes the exclusive rights of a copyright owner the owner is entitled to sue in federal court.” There are three ways to ask the court if your work is infringed. This book says, “Issue order (restraining orders and injunctions) to prevent further violation.” You can also “Award money damages if appropriate.” Or you can, “In some circumstances, award attorney fees.” Be careful of what you take off the internet for your own use thats all I can say. It only time a copyrighted work be used without an owner’s permission is when “a copyrighted work are considered fair use.”