MightyRecruiterCopyrights provide protection to the creator of an “original work,” through United States’ Copyright Act. The copyright can apply to literary works, musical works, sound recordings, movies, photographs, paintings, live performances, software, and sound or television broadcasts. Both unpublished and published works can be protected, and the act gives the copyright owner exclusive rights to:
- Reproducing the work
- Creating other works (derivative works) based upon the copyrighted work
- Selling, transferring ownership or leasing copies of the work
- Performing the work publicly
- Publicly displaying the copyrighted work
- Authorizing others to do any of the above
Copyright law can only protected manifested works, or those that have a “form of material expression.” The copyright can’t cover concepts, ideas, techniques or facts that the copyrighted work contains. For instance, the screenplay for a particular movie based on a historical event can be copyrighted, such as the movie “Titanic,” but others are still able to write screenplays about the sinking of the Titanic, as long as they don’t follow the same script.
What Can Copyrights Cover?
Copyrights cover original works that exist in a tangible form and can be expressed. Some works that are considered “fixed” (and therefore able to be copyrighted) include written stories, computer programs saved to a disk and recorded songs. The following works can also be copyrighted:
- literary works
- dramatic works, including music accompaniments
- musical works, including accompanying words
- graphic, pictorial and sculptural works
- choreographed works and pantomimes
- audiovisual works, including motion pictures
- architectural works
- sound recordings
The categories listed above should be considered broad. For instance, a computer program and most “compilations” can be copyrighted. Additionally, architectural plans and maps fall under graphic, pictorial and sculptural works.
What Isn’t Covered by Copyright?
Certain categories aren’t eligible to be protected under federal copyright. Some of them include:
- Works that haven’t been set in a tangible form (for instance choreography that hasn’t been recorded or notated, or improvisational performances or speeches that haven’t been recorded or written)
- Names, short phrases, titles and slogans; familiar designs or symbols, typographic lettering, coloring or ornamentation that differs only slightly from an original; ingredients or contents that are merely listed
- Methods, procedures, ideas, processes, systems, principles, concepts, devices or discoveries that are distinguished from an illustration, explanation or description
- Work consisting completely of information that contains no original authorship and is common property, such as height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, standard calendars, and tables and lists that have been taken from documents and sources that are common or public
What About Works “Made for Hire?”
The artist who creates the work owns the copyright, unless the artist decides to sell the copyright, or unless the work is “made for hire.” Works that are made for hire are generally created by an employee on the job or made by an independent contractor specifically hired to create them. The employer or whoever commissioned the work owns the work’s copyright. If an employee writes an article, creates a computer program, designs a web page or draws an illustration designed for a company publication, that employee is creating work for hire. If the court considers there to be an employment relationship between the employer and the artist,the artist doesn’t have to technically be an employee for the artist to not own the copyright to the work. However, if the employee creates work independently, on his or her own time, it can be used on the job and still not considered work for hire. When an independent contractor agrees in writing that his or her work is “made for hire,” the hiring person, firm or employer will own the work, as long as it falls under the following:
- part of a broader literary work
- part of an audiovisual work
- a supplementary work
- a translation
- an instructional text
- a compilation
- an atlas
- a test, or a test’s answer material
While any work automatically is protected under the Copyright Act after it is created, registering copyrighted material can give you additional security. This is especially true if you need to go to court to sue for copyright infringement in the future.
Legal Disclaimer
The content on our website is only meant to provide general information and is not legal advice. We make our best efforts to make sure the information is accurate, but we cannot guarantee it. Do not rely on the content as legal advice. For assistance with legal problems or for a legal inquiry please contact you attorney.