Copyright

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Copyright

Introduction

Copyright entails the creation of a legal right by the laws of a country that gives exclusive rights to the creator of an original work for the use and distribution of such work. This, however, is usually valid for a limited period. It is worth noting that the exclusive rights are limited by exceptions and limitations to copyrights, thereby making them not absolute. Furthermore, copyrights apply to certain forms of creative work as an intellectual property right. Under the Copyright Law of the United States, fixed tangible medium representation is the only attachment to the legal protection. This legal protection is more often than not shared between different authors where they each hold a set of rights to license or use the work and referred to as rights holders.

The Copyright Act dates back to January 1958 when it was officially effected though it has gone through several amendments till 2012 when the amendments were most substantial. There were several reasons for these amendments, but the most conspicuous one was to ensure that the act conformed to WPPT and WCT so as to address the concerns of the music and film industry and give it protection. Other concerns addressed by the amendments included but not limited to protecting the physically handicapped persons, the interest of authors of any work, enforce rights and remove operational facilities among others.

Thesis statement

There are several arguments that have been advanced in support of the amendments to the 2012 Copyright Act. This paper aims to explore the copyright laws, key amendments to the Copyright Act, people’s value of copy rights vs. author’s value of copy rights, and comparing the gains and losses of the same using examples.

The copyright laws

PURPOSE OF COPYRIGHT

The main goal of the copyright goals is to promote the progress of science and useful arts by giving them exclusive rights over their products for a limited time. They have the sole ownership of distributing their products or even performing them publicly. They also have the right to allow other people or parties to use their works. This, therefore, means that anyone who uses work that is copyrighted without the owner’s permission is subject to face charges in the federal court. Through this law people have had a chance to benefit financially from their works and be responsible for those works.

WORKS SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT

The existence of this law does not mean that it is there to protect each and every thing. The law has clearly outlined the works that it can protect and these are inclusive of only those works that are of the status of originality. These laws protect; literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and other intellectual works. This kind of protection can be offered both to published or even unpublished works. Examples of such works are musical, dramatic, sound recordings, pantomimes and choreographic works, derivative works among many others.

Idea- expression dichotomy- Here the law protects the expression of an idea but not the idea itself. For example, one can address the issue of the disease HIV/AIDS in a paper. That paper has a right to copyright because it represents his personal view but the idea of HIV/AIDS cannot have that right therefore someone else can pick that idea and develop it in his way.

The copy right laws also protect artistic articles but not useful articles. The way work has been expressed, the mode of expression and even tools of expression is what is protected by the copyright. For the law states;

 “Useful article” is an article having an intrinsic utilitarian function that is not merely to portray the appearance of the article or to convey information. An article that is normally a part of a useful article is considered a “useful article”.

“the design of a useful article, as defined in this section, shall be considered a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work only if, and only to the extent that, such design incorporates pictorial, graphic, or sculptural features that can be identified separately from, and are capable of existing independently of, the utilitarian aspects of the article”

EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS UNDER COPYRIGHT

The copy right laws outline six basic rights that the owner of the works at hand has been granted and they include;

-He can digitally transmit any of his sound recordings using digital audio transmission

Permission to perform publicly any of the works in the case of literary, musical, pantomimes, motion pictures and other audio-visual works

-He can publicly display the work in the case of choreographic works, musical, dramatic, pantomimes and motion pictures or audio- visual works

-Permission to prepare derivative works based upon the work

-To reproduce the work in copies or phone records

-To distribute copies of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental lease or lending

 

 

 

Key Amendments to the Copy Right Act

The amendment contained a variety of changes that were made to the Act. These changes included;

a)      Copying sound recordings for private and domestic use. This private recording right allows consumers to make a copy of legitimately acquired recording that could either be physical or digital for their domestic use and this copy can be played on different devices that belong to the consumer. This exception does not allow the consumer to sell or distribute the private copy or perform them in public. He also cannot share, download or distribute it online.

b)      Time shifting- Consumers can record television or radio programmes to view or listen to at a later time. But this does not allow them to use it over and over again, sell or distribute the copies or let them be used in public.

c)      Format shifting of some Formats- Consumers can scan a book, magazine or photograph owned by the producer for own personal use. They can also re-format a video owned by the producer onto DVD format for personal use.

d)     Enforcement- The amendments introduce a variety of copy right offences where the most serious offence is the indictable offence that contains knowledge element. He if the defendant knowingly commits the infringement he then is subject to a criminal charge. Summary offences are just like indictable but require a lower knowledge level and require smaller fines. Strict liability offences are underpinned by an infringement notice scheme set out in the copyright regulations where police are allowed to issue on the spot fines to offenders.

 

Importance of copy right laws

 The importance of copyright laws is quite different when it comes to the consumer/people and to the author. The benefits that the author gets from the laws are quite different from how the consumer is affected by the laws.

AUTHOR

In my opinion, the author stands to gain more from these laws than what the consumer gains. The laws help honor the author by giving only him exclusive rights to his works. It’s only him who can publicly present his works if he so wishes. This gives him the publicity and honor that he deserves.

The laws give the author a chance to gain economically or financially from his works. He has the exclusive right to sell and distribute his work. The law protects him from malicious people who would want to reduce his sales by creating a market for themselves.

The laws also serve to protect the authenticity of people’s works. These laws prevent any one form diluting and ruining the initial content that had been produced by the author. It keeps works produced authentic with reliable information and not propaganda.

THE PEOPLE/CONSUMER

The consumer also stands to gain from the copy right laws. It helps keep him on track so that he knows exactly what is considered wrong when it comes to other people’s works. He will not commit such crimes because he has the advantage of awareness.

The consumer is also given a chance and challenge to come up with his work especially when it comes to the law on ideas. He has the right to pick up an idea already tackled and develop and express it in his unique way.

 

References

Nimmer, D. (2013). Nimmer on copyright. LexisNexis.

Geller, P. E. (2015). The Celestial Jam Session: Creative Sharing Online Caught in Conflicts of Copyright Laws. European Intellectual Property Review (EIPR), 37, 490-497.

Belleflammea, P., & Peitzb, M. (2014). Digital piracy

Pallante, M. A. (2015). Robert W. Kastenmeier: Enduring Imprint on Copyright Law. Wis. L. Rev., 585.

Heller, K. A., Mönks, F. J., Subotnik, R., & Sternberg, R. J. (Eds.). (2000). International handbook of giftedness and talent. Elsevier.

 

 

 

 

 

Scenario:

You are the commander three shifts of corrections officers (COs) working around the clock in a maximum-security cell block in a state penitentiary. You have an exceptionally good group of COs who have managed to intervene in most potentially violent problems without incident. They have developed an effective network of prison informants form the inmate population.

There is a Middle-Eastern man who is about 65 years old serving a life sentence for the honor killing of his own daughter. He has been in the prison for about 10 years. Your COs report to you that his mental state appears to be deteriorating. He is a moderately religious person and feels there is no reason for terror violence. Every time an article about terrorism or the threat of terrorism is published in the newspapers provided by the prison library, the inmate reports to the COs that there is a planned violent takeover by the Muslims incarcerated in the same cell block. There are a number of American-born Muslims incarcerated in the cell block, and the inmate seems to have access to them as a sort of religious leader for prayer services and advice.

At first, you took him seriously, but when he started to explain who the extremists were and what their mission was, you began to realize that he was just selecting inmates in the cell block and identifying them as potential inmates with violent intent. He would make up stories about the manufacture of makeshift weapons in the middle of the night. He would indicate that the Muslim extremists had contacts with other inmates throughout the prison and a comprehensive riot and plan to take over the prison was being planned. Several prison staff members working in the infirmary have been identified by the inmate as sympathetic to the extremists’ cause, and he has accused them of helping provide weapons and other materials.

Please respond to the following questions. You must provide meaningful feedback to the main postings of at least two of your classmates.

• What are 2 types of disorders that might be affecting this complainant, and why did you consider them?
• What types of referrals are available for a mentally ill person of this sort?
• How should you continue to handle this inmate’s reported intelligence information, and why?

1 page paper. APA format. References cited throughout

Class what is jurisprudence? Please review chapter 1 and post your understanding of jurisprudence. 

Hello Class before we get started with our class discussion I would like to know if anyone has had any prior studies or work experience in a legal, court, or law enforcement setting? 

 

Class chapter 1 of our text state that the law is a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority, and having legal binding force that create duties, obligations and rights as well as a mechanism to resolve disputes arising from those duties and rights. In addition the law that we now have in the United States is a blend of new law made in the United States and old law from other countries. Can anyone name at least one country where some of our current law originated? Based on your knowledge do you know of any law or principle of law that is reflective of that country?

 

Chapter 2 of our text states that the United States uses a federal system in which a national government coexists with the government of each state. What does this mean?

Can you think of any recent circumstances in which the federal government and the state government does not seem to see things as the same. In situations where there is conflict between the federal and the state who wins?

 

Hello Class in light of the two most recent Supreme Court rulings (Gay Marriage and Obamacare) how does these rulings fit into the Supreme Court’s function in our government. How does the rulings affect everyone in each state?  Please note that I am not asking you to discuss your opinion or agreement/disagreements with the rulings. 

 

Class the United States uses a federal system in which a national government, having limited regulatory powers granted by the Constitution, coexists with the government of each state. Based on chapter 2 of our text what is the main function our Constitution? What do you think is the most significant amendment to the Constitution (in your opinion)? 

 

I recently had a great trip to DC to share the monuments and the history with my daughter. While I was there I was very immersed in the experience of the federal government and the awesome history that occurred to create the government that we have today. What is the significance of the three main sections of the U.S. Constitution? Has anyone recently traveled to DC?

 

What is the composition of the state courts? What the main role of the state court? Karen a resident of Georgia is involved in a traffic accident with another resident of Georgia in downtown Atlanta, GA. Karen’s car is completely damaged and she is suffering from whiplash. She now needs to sue the other driver to recover a monetary judgment to obtain a new car and pay her medical bills. Please tell everyone which court (State/Federal) should Karen file her case.

 

Class as you already know in the United States we have a judiciary i.e.,” court system.” The court system is in place so our society has a forum to resolve disputes and prosecute crimes. Based on our class materials please explain the composition of the judiciary. How is it comprised? Is there any other purpose of the judiciary, other than the ones that I stated earlier, that you can think of.

 

Ques 1:

There are 51 separate court systems in the United States. The federal government operates one court system, the federal courts; and each of the 50 states operates a court system, the state courts. The federal court and all of the state courts have three main levels:  trial courts, appeals courts, and supreme courts. Define trial courts, appeals courts, and supreme courts.

1. Students whose last names begin with the letters A – I: Explain the main responsibilities of state trial courts. What is the purpose of state trial courts? How are state trial courts related to and different from state appeals courts and state supreme courts?
2. Students whose last names begin with the letters J – R: Explain the main responsibilities of state appeals courts. What is the purpose of state appeals courts? How are state appeals courts different from state trial courts and state supreme courts?
3. Students whose last names begin with the letters S – Z: Explain the main responsibilities of state supreme courts. What is the purpose of state supreme courts? How are state supreme courts different from state trial courts and state appeals courts?

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7. Each classmate must be from a different group, other than your own. Responses to your peers should be at least 100 words in length. Remember that this is a discussion. If a classmate or your instructor asks you a question, it is your responsibility to respond. 

 

Ques 2:

The judiciary is an important part of the criminal justice system. After police arrest an individual, an extensive chain of events is set off in the American court system.

1. Students whose last names begin with the letters A – E: Explain the booking procedure to your classmates. How does it work and who is involved?
2. Students whose last names begin with the letters F – J: Explain preliminary hearings to your classmates. How do they work and who is involved in the process?
3. Students whose last names begin with the letters K – O: Explain what a grand jury is to your classmates. How does a grand jury work and who is involved in the process?
4. Students whose last names begin with the letters P – T: Explain what arraignment is to your classmates. How does an arraignment work and who is involved in the process?
5. Students whose last names begin with the letters U – Z: Explain plea bargaining. How does plea bargaining work and who is involved in the process?

Only a handful of cases result in a jury trial. Outline the steps involved in a criminal trial. Why do so few cases end up going to trial?

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7. Each classmate must be from a different group, other than your own. Responses to your peers should be at least 100 words in length. Remember that this is a discussion. If a classmate or your instructor asks you a question, it is your responsibility to respond.