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>> John Saint Amour:
Hello National Book
Festival fairgoers.
My name is John Saint Amour, and
I am the Assistant Section Head
in the Public Information
Office.
And it is my delight
to represent the US
Copyright Office today
to lead a discussion
on copyright.
I have a lot to discuss
and there is a quiz
at the end, so pay attention.
Today we're discussing
copyright,
the engine of free
expression, a phrase coined
by the Supreme Court
in their 1985 Harper
and Row v Nation
Enterprises decision.
And every one of you is
a part of this engine
of free expression, but
you'll see why you're a part
of copyright very soon.
The mission of the Copyright
Office is to promote creativity
and free expression
by administering the
nation's copyright laws,
and by providing impartial,
expert advice on copyright law
and policy for the
benefit of all,
thus enriching the nation's
culture by empowering
and connecting all of us who
make up the copyright community.
Who is all?
All is, of course, the
creators of original works.
But it's also the people who get
to read, view, watch, listen,
or even step into the work.
And then all of the people
who are part of the industries
in between the creator
and the user of the work,
like the book publisher,
the art dealer,
the music licensing company,
the movie distributors,
the customer service
and register employees
at the bookstore, even the
stock person at the toy store.
But wait, I'm getting
ahead of myself.
The first question
is, what is copyright?
Copyright is a type of
intellectual property
that protects original
works of authorship,
as soon as an author
fixes the work
in a tangible form
of expression.
Now, works are original when
they are independently created
by a human author, and have a
minimal degree of creativity.
Independent creation
simply means
that you create it
yourself without copying.
The Supreme Court has
said that to be creative,
a work must have a spark
and modicum of creativity.
Now, a work is fixed when
it is captured, either by
or under the authority
of an author
in a sufficiently
permanent medium,
such that the work can
be perceived, reproduced
or communicated for
more than a short time.
For example, a work is fixed
when you write it
down or record it.
Now, in copyright law, there
are a lot of different types
of works, including paintings
and photographs, illustrations,
musical compositions, sound
recordings, computer programs,
books, poems, blog posts,
movies, architectural works,
plays, and so much more.
And everyone who creates one
of these works is a copyright
owner, no matter how young
or how old the person is.
Kids in school, making art,
writing stories, writing music,
the grandmother who writes
poetry, a retiree who takes
up painting, a survivor
who writes her memoir,
a comedian who writes his own
jokes, a gamer who decides
to write his own
computer program.
Anyone, any of you who
creates any one of these words,
you are a copyright owner.
There are some things,
however, that are not creative,
like titles, names, short
phrases and slogans,
familiar symbols or designs
like hearts and clovers, right?
Mere variations of typographic
ornamentation, lettering
or coloring, fonts, for
example, and the mere listing
of ingredients or contents.
And always keep in mind that
copyright protects expression
and never ideas, procedures,
methods, systems, processes,
concepts, principles,
or discoveries.
I have some examples of
works here on my table,
which have been registered
with the Copyright Office.
This book here is a cookbook.
And while I just stated
that mere listings
of ingredients is not
protected by copyright,
a cookbook is so much more.
There are lots and lots
of instructional text.
And the best part of a cookbook,
the photographs, or if you're
like me, maybe the worst part.
My dishes never look this good.
And while we think of
sculptural works as things
like bronze statues or plaster
busts or even something large
like the Statue of Liberty,
which I think is the largest
thing we've ever registered,
sculptural works can include
your favorite stuffed animal,
like your teddy bear or
maybe one of these guys.
A sculpture work can be very
small like this here, a goose,
who inside lays the golden egg.
And what's inside the
golden egg, I wonder.
A little bit of perfume.
Other things might
include paint by numbers,
like this here Wizard
of Oz paint by numbers.
Or I think my son's
favorites, masks from Star Wars.
Oh, and of course musical works.
What's neat about a CD and
yes, some places in the world,
people still buy LPs and CDs,
is not only do we
have the musical works
and the sound recording inside,
there's also wonderful cover art
and photographs that are
also protected by copyright.
In the literal sense, copyright
means the right to copy.
But it's more than just that.
It's a bunch.
It's a bundle of
exclusive rights given
to the creator of
a protected work.
These rights together
are an incentive for you
to feel comfortable
putting your work out there
with the potential to reap
the financial benefits
of your creation
and protecting you
in case someone else infringes
your rights accidentally
or purposefully.
These rights are yours, whether
you publish the work or not.
It's the copyright owner's
exclusive right to determine how
and when you put your work
out there to the world.
And your rights, they
last a pretty long time.
The length of copyright
protection depends
on when the work was created.
But under the current law, works
created on or after January 1st,
1978 have a copyright term of
life of the author plus 70 years
after the author's death.
But Johnny, you say,
what about the users?
What are their rights?
Well, I'm glad you asked.
It is important to know that we
are all also copyright users.
When we read books, watch
movies, listen to music,
or use video games or software,
we are using copyright
protected works.
So even if you're not
the owner of a work,
you still may be able to use it.
In addition to buying
or licensing work,
the Copyright Act includes
exceptions and limitations
to the author's exclusive
rights.
They're not completely
unlimited.
The Copyright Act's exceptions
and limitations are found
in sections 107 through 122.
And they include fair use for
purposes such as research,
teaching and reporting,
to name a few.
The first sale doctrine, which
allows you to borrow material
from libraries and rent videos
at those red vending machines.
Some reproductions or
copies made by libraries
and archives is allowable.
Even certain performances
and displays of works,
to name a few, are allowable by
users under the Copyright Act.
Of course, you can
also freely use works
that are in the public domain.
Now works in the public domain
are essentially works whose term
of protection has ended.
Now currently, all works
published 1925 and earlier are
in the public domain
in the United States.
And while registering your work
with the Copyright
Office is not mandatory,
there are some pretty
important benefits
to filing a registration.
In addition to making a
public record of the ownership
of your work, the first step
in creating a chain of title
for your work, a registration
is required to use the courts
to enforce copyrights
through litigation.
Since 1870, the Copyright
Office maintains public records
of registrations.
But we're not stuck
in old fashioned ways.
Our registration system
is fully electronic.
And the law changes
over time as well.
This December, for example,
the Copyright Claims
Board will begin,
aimed to help smaller cases
of infringement out there
where going to federal court
would be much too costly.
This tribunal will really
help individual artists
who are just trying to
protect their modest work.
And there's so much
more we do as an office
to educate the public
on all things copyright.
The best resource for
copyright is our website,
www.copyright.gov.
Not only do we have all sorts
of circulars, publications
and pages and pages of
information, we also have a host
of videos on copyright topics,
from basics to more complex
issues like fair use,
and the Music Modernization Act.
And we're making more,
so please visit us
on our website,
www.copyright.gov.
Oh, I bet you forgot,
there is a quiz at the end
to test what we've
learned today.
Or you can call it trivia.
So let's play.
For a work to be protected
under copyright, what did I say?
It must A, be original; B,
include a copyright notice; C,
be of professional quality;
or D, have a value of $35?
Well, it of course doesn't have
to have any specific value.
But it does have to
be -- the answer?
A, it needs to be
original and fixed
in some sort of tangible medium.
All right, let's see if
you remember the answer
to this next question.
A work is protected under
copyright when what happens?
A, the author mails a copy
of the work to herself.
B, as soon as the work is
created and fixed in any format?
As soon as the work is submitted
to the Copyright Office?
Or D, once the work is
published or displayed publicly?
Well, I can certainly tell you
it's not A. We hear this a lot
at the Copyright Office.
"What if I just mail a copy
of the work to myself?"
That's called a poor
man's copyright,
and it is indeed poor.
It offers you no protection.
The answer here of course, is
B, as soon as a work is created
and fixed any format, the work
is protected by copyright.
All right, let's see what we
have for our next question here.
What year did I say the
copyright was established in?
Was it 1790?
1870 1897?
Or 1909? Well, actually, this
is kind of a trick question.
It's a 50/50 chance here.
It's B or C. I did
mention in 1870.
That is when copyright
was centralized here
at the Library of Congress.
But the Copyright Office
actually didn't become a
separate department until 1897.
So if you said either B or C,
you're actually right
on both accounts.
All right, what do
we have next here?
If a work is in the public
domain what does that mean?
Does it mean A, it
exists on the internet?
B, access to the
work is free of cost?
C, it is available
at a public library?
Or D, the work can be
freely copied and used?
Well, I'm going to take one
off of the chart for you.
It's certainly not A. You
have to know that just
because something is on the
internet, while it may be
in the domain of the public,
it's not actually
public domain material
that can be freely used.
Rather, the answer in this
case, of course, is D,
the work can be freely
copied and used.
The Copyright Office strategic
plan references the engine
of free expression.
Now I said that really early
in my presentation today.
Now where did that
phrase come from?
Did it come from
the US Constitution?
Harper and Row Publishers,
Inc v Nation Enterprises?
Did President Grant say it?
Or did it come from
the House Report
on the 1976 Copyright Act?
Actually, the answer
here was of course,
it came from the Supreme Court
and their decision in the Harper
and Row Publishers v
Nation Enterprises.
Well, I hope you
got all the answers.
Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot
one more, of course.
What is the largest thing the
Copyright Office has registered?
Was it the Brooklyn Bridge?
The St. Louis arch?
The Statue of Liberty?
Or the Disney castle?
Well, I've walked over
the Brooklyn Bridge,
and it's not the
Brooklyn Bridge.
But in this case, of course, I
mentioned the Statue of Liberty.
Yes, we believe it is the
largest thing the Copyright
Office has ever registered.
And you can go to our website,
www.copyright.gov, and learn all
about the Statue of Liberty,
as well as information
about our onsite exhibits.
So I would like to
thank you for coming
to the Copyright Office's
presentation on copyright.
Again, I'm John Saint Amour
and it has been so much fun
to spend this time with you.
Thank you.
And we're now open
for questions.
>> So the first question is,
if I copyright a short story
as an unpublished work, how does
the protection rights change,
if at all, if the story
eventually is published?
>> John Saint Amour:
Oh, excellent question.
The rights don't change at
all if the work is published.
Of course, you have benefits
if you file a registration,
that you're afforded
extra benefits in the law
for registration for
an unpublished work.
You're not obligated to
file another registration,
should the work later be
published, although you may
if you want to show a change
of that status in
the public record.
But in terms of your copyright
ownership and the term
of copyright lasting for
your life plus 70 years,
none of that changes.
>> Okay, thank you, John.
Our next question, can
feature articles be protected
by copyright before
their submission
to a publisher such
as a magazine?
>> John Saint Amour: Absolutely,
you certainly can file articles
that are not yet published
with the Copyright Office.
We get a lot of unpublished
content from things
that may be published
or may not be published.
Sometimes you turn things in to
publishers and they may decide
to wait to publish
it for a long time.
And so, understandably,
you want to make sure
that you're protected for
your work if you're going
to be putting it out there.
So absolutely, we
accept registrations
at any time during the
life of the copyright.
>> Okay, thank you.
Our next question,
are government publications
in the public domain?
For example, could someone
freely use a government
publication in a work of
fiction as part of their story?
>> John Saint Amour:
As long as it --
yes, I didn't mention that.
Works that are created by
the federal government are
in fact in the public domain.
That's a section
of the law as well.
And so those things like
the law itself, for example,
is not something that
can be protected,
or the House Report
on the Copyright Act.
Those kinds of government
publications,
our own circulars here
at the Copyright Office,
those things are not
protected by copyright,
and can be used in any material.
>> Thank you.
Next question.
Why did the Statue of Liberty
need to be copyrighted?
>> John Saint Amour: [Laughing]
Oh, well, if you think
of the time, first of all,
many things were happening.
Of course, Bartholdi, who is
the person who created that,
they needed to raise funds.
There were lots of different
ways in which funds were going
to be raised for the
Statue of Liberty.
One way was to try to sell
smaller versions of it.
And so there was going to be
reproductions that were going
to be made of the Statue of
Liberty in the United States.
That was one of the ways that
they were going to raise money
in addition to the
crowdsourcing they did --
kind of the first example
of crowdsourcing they
did in the newspapers.
But also there was, you know,
photography was still
relatively new.
And so there were
questions about, you know,
taking a photograph of the
work, particularly prior
to it being installed,
and selling
and distributing those copies.
So there were questions about
Copyright Act, but primarily,
it had to do with the need to
make reproductions of the work.
And that was a way for
Americans to get excited
about this gift from the French.
>> Who owns the copyright
to the Statue of Liberty?
>> John Saint Amour:
Well, nobody now.
The copyright has
long since expired.
But it's my understanding
that Frederic Bartholdi
who created the statute
is the person
who filed the registration.
>> Thank you.
Next question, what are the
implications of requiring
that a work be fixed on cultures
with primarily oral traditions?
>> John Saint Amour:
Well, there are many ways.
It's one of the requirements.
Fixation is a requirement.
Of course, there are many
ways to fix works, even text.
Text does not have to
necessarily be written down.
Texts can be recorded as well.
But fixation is a
requirement under US law
to be protected in
the United States.
Passing a story from friend
to friend, friend to friend,
friend to friend, if
it's never written down,
does not enjoy protection
until that point.
But it can also be fixed in
a sound recording format,
in which case that text
has been captured and is
in a reproducible format
that can be reused,
and that would be
protected by copyright.
>> Thank you, John.
Our next question,
if a professional artists just
puts a C in a circle at the base
of each work of art, is
further registration necessary?
>> John Saint Amour: I
didn't mention copyright
notice earlier.
So a copyright notice generally
is the copyright symbol,
which is the C in the
circle, or the word copyright
or its abbreviation COPR,
oftentimes followed by the year
of publication, if
it's a published work,
followed by the name
of the copyright owner.
Now, none of those aspects are
required to hold copyright.
It used to be in the past,
but when the United States
during the Berne Convention
in 1989, that requirement
was dropped.
The copyright notice on a
work is to let the reader know
or the person viewing
the work know
that the work is being
claimed as copyright protected.
So it's a notice.
It's a notice to the
viewer, to the reader.
It's not a replacement
for registration.
So a notice alone is not going
to be sufficient if someone were
to infringe the work and you
needed to litigate in court.
You would still need to file
a copyright registration
for that purpose.
And actually, the two
things work together
so that a person
couldn't argue, you know,
there was an accidental --
you know, they didn't know.
Well, there was a
notice on the work
and the person filed
the registration.
And so you know, anyone
who has any ability
to do just minimal due
diligence would know
that that work was
protected by copyright.
So the two pieces
work in tandem.
It's not a requirement.
But of course, the law provides
benefits for doing both.
>> Thank you.
Can I paint images from
medieval manuscripts
and use them in my book?
>> John Saint Amour:
I'm assuming these medieval
manuscripts, you're talking
about painting things
that are old
and that are in the
public domain.
Certainly, you can create your
own version of those works
and potentially could
register those.
There needs to be a
certain difference
between the original
and your version.
Now, if it's an exact copy
of something that's
already protected,
but that's no longer protected
by copyright, then
that won't work.
But if you're creating
your own version of a work,
a sketch of something that
is public domain, yes,
that's a derivative work.
And since it's public domain
work, you have a right
to make the derivative work
without getting permission,
and then being able to utilize
that in any way that you choose.
>> Does a work have to
be copyrighted in order
to be included in the
library's records,
Library of Congress records?
>> John Saint Amour: Well,
the Library of Congress collects
material in many different ways.
There is a significant
amount of material that comes
through copyright
registration, published material
that then gets handed
over to the library.
And the library has selection
officers who determine whether
or not the work would be
included in the Library
of Congress's collections.
There's also many
other works that come
to the Copyright Office
through philanthropy,
and other donations and things.
So the library has
different avenues to acquire.
Over the years, they have
acquired their collections.
Again, the copyright notice
itself is not a requirement.
But often published material
has copyright notices.
But again, a notice
is not a requirement.
And I'm not sure
about other material
that the Copyright Office
receives through other means.
Because Copyright Office -- I'm
sorry, the Library of Congress,
even through philanthropic
donations,
some of that material
isn't even published.
And yet that becomes part
of their collections.
It's kind of held separately
and treated differently
than published content.
And whether there's copyright
notices on that material
or not, I'm really not sure.
>> If works not registered
with US copyright
can't have litigation,
then how can they be protected?
>> John Saint Amour: Well,
litigation isn't the only
thing a person can do.
There are other measures
a person can take.
For example, if you find
your work on another website,
you can do what's
called the DMCA takedown.
A registration is
not a requirement
to enforce your rights to
the internet in that way.
There's also going to be
coming for small claims court,
as I said earlier, the Copyright
Claims Board will be handling
some smaller cases.
And registration may not
be required in those cases.
But there are other
legal measures.
You'd have to talk
to an attorney
if you've been infringed against
and you're wondering what some
of your legal options are.
You may want to talk to an
attorney who's knowledgeable
in the area of copyright
law and can provide you
with copyright advice.
And if you're not sure, contact
your local bar association,
and they could point you
in the right direction.
>> If you don't register
a copyright,
is your work still protected?
>> John Saint Amour:
Yes, under the law,
you have to have those
two pieces, right?
The creative spark, some sort
of creative work, and a modicum
of amount of creative work.
And then you have
to have it fixed.
And as long as you have those
two things, that copyright
as a law protects the work.
>> Is it okay to use the
first 30 seconds of a song
if you are not profiting
from the use of the song?
>> John Saint Amour: Well, I
can't answer that straight up,
to be honest with you.
Because as I said earlier, there
are circumstances within the law
where it may be okay to
use a portion of work
under certain circumstances.
Fair use comes to mind.
Whether or not your
particular use of 30 seconds
of a song would be considered
fair or not is something
that you would have
to investigate.
You can go to our
website, copyright.gov.
We have a fair use
index with court cases
that can help steer you
in the right direction.
I wouldn't necessarily
categorize the use of 30 seconds
of a song to be automatically
okay.
On the other hand, you
know, I can't be here today
and say that you can't.
It's going to depend on your
use, the particular use,
the way in which you're
using it and how that falls
within your user rights.
Of course, getting permission
from the copyright owner
is always a great step.
Sometimes you can get permission
without the need for a license.
So that's something
that you would have
to either contact
the copyright owner
or review the provisions
of fair use.
>> Okay, are works of antiquity
in the public domain by default,
say the da Vinci Codex or
Michelangelo sculptures?
>> John Saint Amour:
Yes, they would be.
Works of antiquity would
be in the public domain.
All right.
Well, that's the end
of our questions.
And I want to, again, thank
you all for participating
in the National Book Festival,
for coming to this presentation
for the Copyright Office.
Again, my name is
John Saint Amour.
If you have any questions,
hit our Contact Us link
at our website, copyright.gov.
And I hope to see
you again sometime.
Thank you so much.
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