Copyright Myths and Facts

The Copyright Act of 1709 or The Statute of Anne is considered to be the first full fledged copyright law that was enacted in 1709 and enforced on 10 April, 1710, in Britain. The law was established to encourage learning and maximize knowledge. The law provides the proprietor an exclusive right to print, distribute, and copy the work, and whosoever wants to reuse the work has to take the proprietor's permission. According to the law, as soon as any original work is created, the copyright is automatically given to its author. Though the author need not have to formally register the work, the registration makes the copyright more apparent. It is applicable to any kind of work, idea, or information, which is substantive and discrete.

The Internet is undoubtedly is one of the most significant developments in the field of international communication and information access, but has also become a lair of copyright abuse. The concept of freedom of information and the ease of sending, copying and distributing messages on the Internet have created a delusive impression that the text and graphical materials on websites, news groups, email lists and other electronic channels are exempt from copyright statutes. Therefore, despite knowing different facts about copyrighting, there are many myths about copyrights, or misconceptions about copyrights, that people often come across while accessing copyrighted information on the net. Copyright laws on the Internet should be kept in mind, and adhered to, while using the internet for research and other like projects.

Copyright Myths and Copyright Facts
Following are some common copyright myths and their respective copyright facts that most of us are unaware of:

Myth #1: "If it doesn't have a copyright notice, it's not copyrighted."
Fact #1: Earlier, this copyright myth was true, but now nearly all big nations follow the Berne Copyright Intervention. For example, in USA anything created confidentially and originally after April 1, 1989, is copyrighted despite of having a notice or not. Therefore, by default, one should assume work created by other people are already copyrighted and should not be copied. Though there are some old works that may have lost their copyright protection, it is better not to take the risk unless you are sure about it.

Myth #2: "If I don't charge for it, it's not a violation."
Fact #2: Even if you just give it away, it is still a violation, especially if you hurt the commercial value of the work. If the work has no commercial value, the damage is mainly technical and is rarely to result in a legal action.

Myth #3: "If you don't defend your copyright you lose it." -- "Somebody has that name copyrighted!"
Fact #3: Practically, a copyright can't be lost unless it is given up explicitly by the owner. In fact, you can't copyright a name or anything of that sort, like titles etc. In case of trademarks, you can't use someone else's trademark, especially if it steals the value of the mark. It may also confuse you with the actual owner of the mark.

Myth #4: "If I make up my own stories, but base them on another work, my new work belongs to me."
Fact #4: The U.S. Copyright law is quite explicit that making derivative work, i.e. work based on another copyrighted work, is the exclusive province of the proprietor of the original work. Therefore, if you writing a story or article using characters from someone else's work you have to take that writer's permission.

Myth #5: "They e-mailed me a copy, so I can post it."
Fact #5: To have a copy doesn't mean you have the copyright. You can surely report on what the e-mail you have been sent and reveal what it says. If someone sues over an ordinary message which has no commercial value, he will get no damages.

Myth #6: "It doesn't hurt anybody -- in fact it's free advertising."
Fact #6: This is completely up to the owners whether they want free ads or not, and if they want, they will definitely contact you. Don't justify whether this will hurt them or not, just ask.

These copyright myths and their respective copyright facts will enable you to have a better and clear understanding of copyrighting. According to one of the facts about the Copyright Act of 1976, the copyright of a original and creative work extends 50 years beyond the life span of its author or writer. Some of the works that come under the copyright protection are journalistic reports, theatrical scripts, computer software, architectural designs, multimedia digital creations, literature, etc.