Copyright Protection.
The United States Copyright Office is the governmental body in charge of the registration of Copyrights. In general, the Copyright Office considers copyright a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of "original works of authorship," including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:
To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and
In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.
It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights set forth above provided by the copyright law to the owner of the copyright. These rights, however, are not unlimited in scope. Certain sections of the 1976 Copyright Act establish limitations on these rights. In some cases, these limitations are specified exemptions from copyright liability. One major limitation is the doctrine of "fair use," which provides a defense to allegations of copyright infringement. For further information about the limitations of any of these rights, you should always consult with an attorney who specializes in copyright law.
Work Made for Hire.
Copyright protection follows from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the individual who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright. In the case of works made for hire, the employer and not the employee is considered to be the author. Section 101 of the copyright law defines a "work made for hire" as:
(1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or
(2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as:
a contribution to a collective work
a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work
a translation
a supplementary work
a compilation
an instructional text
a test
answer material for a test
a sound recording
an atlas
if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire....
The authors of a joint work are co-owners of the copyright in the work, unless there is an agreement to the contrary.
Registration.
While copyright protection exists from the time the expression of the work becomes created, you cannot pursue a claim for copyright infringement unless you have registered the work with the US Copyright Office. There is an exhaustive list of different forms of applications that vary depending upon the type of work to be protected. In order to properly file the application, you should consult an attorney who specializes in copyright law. If you fail to file the application and someone copies your work without your permission, it may be very difficult to find any remedy at law for the infringement. The two most frequently filed copyright applications are currently for software and web site protection. It is imperative to seek protection for these types of works because it is so easy for potential infringers to steal this material. (Source: US Copyright Office)
Copyright Infringement.
Where a party uses the work of another without its express written permission, authorization or consent, that party may violate Section 501 of the United States Copyright, Title 17 of the United States Code. Act by infringing on the rights afforded to ADM under Sections 106(1), 106(2) and 106(3) of the Statute.
Pursuant to Section 106 of the Act, the owner of copyright under Title 17 has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;
(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending.
See Title 17 USC Sections 106(1), 106(2) and 106(3).
Anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner as provided by Section 106 is considered an "infringer" of the copyright as well as an "infringer" of the rights of the author. See Title 17 USC Section 501(a). By copying, modifying and/or reproducing a party's work, that party may violate Sections 106(1), 106(2) and 106(3) of the Act.
In order to prevail on a claim for copyright infringement, a Plaintiff must initially show that the application has been filed and either factual evidence of copying or that the defendant had access to the copyrighted work and that the offending and copyrighted works are so similar, that the Court may infer that there was factual copying. Lotus Development Corp. v. Borland Intern, Inc., 49 F.3rd 807 (1st Cir. 1995) citing Engineering Dynamics, Inc. v Structural Software, Inc., 26 F.3rd 1335, 1340 (5th Cir. 1994). A Plaintiff need only then prove that the works are "substantially similar." Engineering Software, Inc., supra at 1341.
Damages for Infringement.
Pursuant to Section 501(b), the owner of the exclusive rights granted under the Act may institute an action for damages for infringement. See Title 17 USC Section 501(b). The owner may seek "Statutory Damages" for each and every infringement committed by the company.
For purposes of the Act, "Statutory Damages" allow for the recovery of damages per infringement "in a sum of not less than $750 or more than $30,000". See Title 17 Section 504(c)(1). In an instance, however, where the copyright owner can sustain the burden of proving that the infringement was committed willfully, the court may increase the award of statutory damages to a sum of $150,000. See Title 17 Section 504(c)(2).
Finally, Section 505 of the Act allows for the recovery of costs and reasonable Attorney's Fees. See Title 17 USC Section 505.
Software Programs.
For purposes of the Copyright Act concerning infringement of a software program, infringement occurs each time the software is installed on a defendant's computer without the authorization of the copyright owner. Vault Corp. v. Quaid Software, 847 F.2nd 255, 260 (5th Cir. 1988); Stenograph LLC v. Bossard Assoc. Inc., (D.C. Cir. Ct. App.) (1998). In addition, an infringement occurs each time the software is "booted up." In other words, for purposes of the statute, an infringement occurs every time the software is loaded from some storage medium, such as a diskette or a computer's hard drive, into the computer's random access memory (RAM). MAI Systems Corp. v. Peak Computer, Inc., 991 F.2nd 511, 518 (9th Cir. 1993); Stenograph LLC v. Bossard Assoc. Inc., (D.C. Cir. Ct. App.) (1998). Thus, an infringement occurs each time the computer bearing the unauthorized software is activated. As such, damages for infringement can be quite considerable.
Copyright protection and litigation are generally quite complicated
matters. If you have a work for which you need protection or believe someone
has infringed your work, you should speak to an attorney who specializes
in Copyright Law.
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