7 Essential Copyright Facts For EVERYONE...

#1: Ideas are not protected by copyright law

Copyright law doesn’t protect ideas, facts, historical facts, or news. It’s the expression of ideas (and facts, news, etc.) that’s protected by copyright. This means you can summarize an article or write a blog post based on news events, as long as you don’t reproduce or copy the article or news story.

#2: The creator is generally the first owner of a copyright-protected work

The general rule of ownership is that the creator of a work is the first owner of its copyright. This general rule is, however, subject to a number of exceptions. One such exception is the U.S. “work for hire” provision, which stipulates that employers, under certain conditions, own the copyright in works created by employees during the course of their employment.

#3: Copyright protection is automatic

Copyright is automatic upon the creation of a work in a fixed form—for example, written on paper, saved to your computer’s hard drive, or stored on a memory card in your camera or phone. The international copyright symbol and notice (for example, © Smart Copyright Corp. 2017) doesn’t have to be affixed to the work for it to be copyright-protected.

#4: Copyright duration varies from country to country

The international norm for the duration of copyright protection is the life of the author plus 50 years, as set out in the leading international copyright treaty, the Berne Convention. However, some countries, including the United States and European Union countries, go beyond this norm and now provide copyright protection for life plus 70 years.

#5: You must have permission to use an orphan work

Unless an exception applies, or fair use or fair dealing, you need permission from the owner of a copyright-protected work to use their work. That said, it isn’t always possible to locate a copyright owner. The works of unlocatable copyright owners are called “orphan works.” If you can’t identify or locate a copyright owner (or if a copyright holder doesn’t reply to your permission requests), there’s no mechanism under U.S. copyright law that allows you to legally use that work. Other countries do, however, have mechanisms to assist you, such as the unlocatable copyright owner provision in the Canadian Copyright Act.

#6: You don’t need permission to use a work that’s in the public domain

If a work is in the public domain, you can use it in any manner — even modify or adapt it — without having to obtain permission. Some works are in the public domain because their copyright duration has expired or they didn’t qualify for copyright protection in the first place (such as most works of the U.S. government).

#7: U.S. copyright law applies to copyright-protected materials used in the United States

Since 1989 the United States has been a member of the leading international treaty on copyright, the Berne Convention, which is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). In 1999, the United States joined the two WIPO digital/Internet treaties. This means that when reproducing or sharing copyright-protected materials from the other 171 Berne country members, you should apply U.S. law if you’re using those materials in the United States. The national treatment principle in the Berne Convention means that you should apply the law where a work is being used. For example, apply Australian copyright law when using a protected work in Australia.

If you're a librarian or information professional in the U.S., see our post, 10 Things Librarians Must Know About U.S. Copyright Law.