Copyrighting+Online+Work

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 * Definition: (**Merriam-Webster): the exclusive legal right and protection that is offered to authors of intellectual properties to reproduce, publish, and sell the matter and form (as of a literary, musical, or artistic work). See also Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Copyright applies to any work or expression once it is created. Songs, articles, web pages, photographs and books are examples. Copyright protects material and content in a manner in which the ideas are expressed in the content itself. A number of things that one cannot copyright are: short phrases, facts, slogans and names.

An “all rights reserved protection” is automatically applied to any work. This benefits artists and authors as they are protected from others claiming ownership to their innovation. If someone wants to re-use a piece of work found online or elsewhere an authorization from the author must be given.

=Copyright: A Brief History=

Thomas Jefferson once referred to copyright as “the necessary evil.” He stated that “If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as along as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of everyone.” This viewpoint soon became a part of the U.S. Constitution (Robert 2004). America believed that ideas should flow freely, but that belief has gradually changed. Over the years protection of intellectual property has grown to allow corporations ninety-five years of copyright after publication. New copyright acts and law revisions occurring both in Canada and the U.S. have led to much of the controversy that presently exists. With the advancement of new copying technologies in later days, new problems arose that were not relevant previously. In 1976, the Public Display Act allowed works to be considered for international copyright standards without having them formally registered (Roy 2002). The trend of greater protection for authors is simultaneously causing greater confusion over the matter of property.

=Online Creative Ownership Issues=

Ideas of authorship and copyright on the Internet in terms of creative content have have been altered. Although copyright laws still apply to works appearing on the web, new concerns have arisen due to the nature of the web’s easy sharing of digital information. Information on the web is digitally encoded, therefore it can be downloaded and moved around. This easy sharing of digital content has produced unique copyright issues. The web makes it easy to violate another person's creative, copyrighted material and appropriate the content for their own means and make the content their "own". Anyone with access to the web can therefore be their own "publisher" as they have the power to potentially manipulate that image and appropriate it into their own work. For example, if visiting a person's website with their photography is displayed, another person can simply click on the work and download the image to their computer. From an artist's perspective, the idea of one's artistic original work as a valued item is now challenged. One does not even have to touch the original work to be able to reproduce it.These issues blur the boundries from deciphering the creative "producer" from the "user".
 * Digital Reproduction**

Concerns regarding this issue have have resulted in an array of responses and approaches online. In order to be copyrighted, "original works of authorship" must be "fixed in a tangible medium of expression". A creative work is fixed when it is in a permanent state that allows it to be percieved or communicated in a permanent state and not simply a short period of time. "Copyright law protects the expression of an idea and not the idea itself". A creative idea cannot be copyrighted, but once it is in a tangible, fixed form (such as a web site) it can be protected by copyright. Types of online works that are copyrighted: =Open-Liscensing=
 * sound recordings, web site audio
 * computer software
 * computer architecture coding
 * audiovisual works
 * song lyrics
 * web site content
 * novels, e-books

Systems exist online which aim to distribute one's creative work through an open-license. Some authors have chosen to embrace the digital sharing of information on the web as an opportunity to get their work circulated. These authors //do// want their work to be used freely by others. Online sites such as **Creative Commons** now exists that serve such a purpose. Creative commons is a non-profit organization that has compiled a free search tool for users to look for creative works that can be built upon or shared with others. Photography, text, music and educational material are examples of items that can be searched. The authors of these creative works have made use of a flexible copyright license system that has been developed. This ultimately enables the author’s permission for their work to be re-used under certain conditions that they chose to specify through the license system on Creative Commons. The user does not have to ask permission or pay for the application of these works.

=Online Stock Image Libraries=

"A modernized industry able to meet the changing needs of visual communicators"

The development of online stock image libraries provides online solutions to distribution and use of creative work legally. What are they?** Companies that liscense imagery on the web. Images are searched and downloaded by users. They profit from traditional and digital media outlets of all types access these libraries regularly to be used in their projects. Images viewed daily in newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, motion pictures, books, television most likely retrieved from a stock image library. When an image that falls under a certain category is needed, they can be accessed. Stock photography did not exist online until 1995 when Getty Images, a stock image library, moved its archive onto the web, modernizing the industry. Libraries can be for profit such as Getty Images and [|Corbis] or for non-profit means such as Creative Commons.

Stock image companies work with professional photographers, illustrators, animators, filmmakers to produce visual content
 * How are archives produced?**

Creative professionals in industries such as:
 * Who uses the services?**
 * Advertisers
 * News Media
 * Entertainment
 * Graphic Design

Some individuals also use online stock image libraries for personal use.


 * How do they relate to creative ownership issues?**

Stock image companies are aware of the digital reproductions related to creative imagery that occurs on the Web. From the perspective of those who are employed in creative industries, it is important for companies to secure rights to their creative work. It is also important for its employees to produce creative output that is made with legal material and does not violate copyright infringements. Digital image banks are a response to the inevitable occurence of reproductions. By owning the rights to the images that they produce and obtain, they are able to then liscense their images to users for a profit. This is an innovative response as it helps to control where creative works are used, with the original owner still gaining profit.

=Copy Left & Permission Culture=


 * Copyleft** are those in favour of more limited copyright laws. They generally fear that the growing enforcement of harsh copyright laws weaken society and hinder its creativity.


 * The Permission Culture** are those who feel that strong copyright protection for intellectual property is increasingly necessary in the Digital Information Age. Their focus lies mostly in the rights of authors, (although the Copyleft believes their interest lies in wealthy multi-national corporations) more so than in the public domain.

The stake holders for Copyright:
 * The Stakeholders**
 * Software Programmers
 * Packagers of information
 * Media conglomerates who are looking for vertical integration
 * For-profit research institutes; and professional authors and artists.

The stake holders for Copyleft:
 * Amateur authors and artists (who work for the love of their subject matter)
 * Teachers; librarians; archivists; museum curators
 * Not-for-profit organizations
 * Students and independent scholars

=Related Wikis=

Canadian Copyright Act Copyright Infringement Creative Commons Digital Millenniom Copyright Act Digital Photography Photography and Digital Innovation

=Related Links=

[|Canadian Intellectual Property Office] [|Copyright Act] __[|IstockPhoto]__ [|http://www.gettyimages.com] [|http://www.pro.corbis.com] [|httpa://www.stock.xchng/hu] [|Comstock Images]

=**Works Cited**=

Creative Commons,online at: [|] Ferrera, Gerald R. "Cyberlaw: Text and Cases, 2e". Canada: Thomson South-Western West, 2004.pp.84-87. Getty Images online at: [|] Robert S. Boynton. “The Tyranny of Copyright.” The New York Times. January 25, 2004. Roy J. Girasa. Cyberlaw: National and International Perspectives. Prentice Hall, 2002. Sturken Marita and Lisa Cartwright.__Practices of Looking: an introduction to visual culture.__Oxford: University Press, 2001