Intellectual property copyright law

Essay by BrythonicUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, February 2003

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTYCOPYRIGHT LAW

Intellectual property is useful information divided into artistic property and industrial property. Regardless of the type of property, international law does not create Intellectual property, it only sets down guidelines for its uniform definition and protection. This paper will cover the intellectual property right called copyright.

According to August (2000), a copyright is an intangible statutory right that gives the author of an artistic work, for a limited period, the exclusive privilege of making copies of the work and publishing and selling the copies. A copyright establishes ownership of original works of authorship "fixed" in any actual medium of expression. A copyright applies to the expression of an idea, whether published or not. Once an original work is created and fixed, copyright exists.

The idea of the author is not protected when it is just "in his or her head." The author's work must be "fixed" in a tangible medium of expression.

For example, it can be handwritten or typed; dictated into a tape recorder; acted out in front of a video recorder; carved into clay, wax or stone; stored on a computer chip; or even woven into fabric.

Once the author's original work is created and fixed, only the author or those the author permit may create other works based on the original. The author alone may authorize distribution, display or performance of his or her work. In order to make money by allowing others to use their work, the author should first consider obtaining copyright registration.

The following examples are items that can be copyright. Examples include: books, poetry, plays, short stories, articles, comic books, musical compositions (words and/or music), audio and video recordings, choreographic works, pantomimes, motion pictures, filmstrips, TV programs, photographs, paintings, drawings, prints, maps, architectural plans, scale models, sculpture, craft works,