Media Post #9 Chapter 11

Topic Overview:
- Intellectual property law includes copyrights, trademarks, and patents
-The 1976 copyright act defines copyright as an original work fixed in a tangible medium
-Protected works include literary, musical, dramatic, motion picture, and many others. Ideas, history, and facts may not be copyrighted
-An original work is copyrighted from the moment it is fixed in a tangible medium
-Copyright protects the creators right to reproduce the work, make derivative works and distribute, perform or display a work
-Four categories: 1) Out of copyright ("in Public Domain") when current law took effect. The work still is in the public domain
2) Copyrighted under previous (1909) law, still in copyright when new law took effect. CR lasts 95 years
3) Copyrights on works created on Jan 1st 1978 and after, last for the creators life plus 70 years (what we need to know)
4) Works made for hire- CR lasts 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation (whichever is shorter


Key Terms:

Important Cases:
Matal v Tam
A case where the Supreme Court ruled that a federal law prohibiting disparaging trademark names was unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
American Broadcasting Companies Inc v Aereo Inc
A case where The Court ruled that the service provided by Aereo, allowing subscribers to view live and time-shifted streams of over-the-air television on Internet-connected devices, violated copyright laws.

Relevant Doctrine:

Plaintiff’s Case for Copyright- A copyright plaintiff must prove the following

1) The work used is protected by a valid copyright- meaning it is an original work fixed in a tangible medium

2) The plaintiff owns the copyright

3) The valid copyright is registered with the copyright office

4) And either:

a. There is evidence the defendant directly copied the copyrighted work, or

b. The infringer had access to the copyrighted work, and the two works are substantially similar (extrinsic and intrinsic)

Fair Use Defense- balancing test

1) For what purpose was the copyrighted work used without permission?- more likely a fair use if used for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching. research, scholarship, parody

2) What was the nature of the copyrighted work that was used without permission?- more likely fair use if the plaintiffs work is scholarly or scientific vs entertainment money (CI)

3) How much and what portion of the copyrighted work was used without permission?- based on percentage of work used rather than number of words. Was the part used particularly interesting r important?

4) What effect did the unauthorized use have on the copyrighted works market value?- Probably the most important factor, did this impact the creators ability to make money?

Transformative Use Defense- one of the primary defenses used today when arguing fair use. Transformative use is generally fair use if the answer to two questions is "yes":

1) Has the material you have taken from the original work been transformed by adding new expression or meaning?

2) Was value added to the original by creating new information, new aesthetics, new insights, and understandings?

Current Issues:

Questions: