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If you're wondering how to copyright software, the good news is
you've probably already done it. At least you have if you have ever
written software. Most people get confused over exactly what having
a copyright for their software means. Only those things that can be
seen (when it comes to software) can be copyrighted. If you want to
protect the abstract, look into patents. Otherwise if it is
original, fixed, and tangible you can copyright it. Essentially you
already know how to copyright software if you've put it into a
finished form. Once you've written the source code, the copyright
belongs to you.
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The Software Copyright Act, better known as the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act, has given software developers more power to protect
their works. If you've bought software in the last few years I'm
sure you've noticed some of the changes in the software buying
process.
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Copyright infringement is not an easy thing to explain. While it
may seem as simple as not using someone else’s work, it’s not that
easy. Thanks to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and many other
organizations, we have the ability to use others’ works -- as long
as we use it under Fair Use laws. So what does Fair Use have to do
with copyright infringement, and how can you utilize it?
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The Copyright Law Act of 1976 is the basis of United States
copyright laws. The Copyright Law Act states the rights of
copyright owners, the doctrine of the Fair Use copyright laws, and
it changed the term life of copyrights. Before the Copyright Law
Act, the law had not been revised since 1909. It was necessary that
copyright laws be revised to take into account technological
strides that were being made in radio, sound recordings, motions
pictures and more. The Copyright Law Act of 1976 preempted all
previous laws that were on the books in the United States,
including the Copyright Act of 1909.
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Software copyright laws are among the most difficult to enforce
among the masses. Many companies and corporations are well known
for overlooking these laws, which were designed to protect the
creation of software from not earning their worth. Perhaps one of
the biggest hitches why many software businesses go out of business
is they have difficulty enforcing software copyright laws and
getting money that is owed to them from end users.
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Is there one governing law for international software copyright?
According to agreements by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and
the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIP),
any software written has an automatic copyright. This is a
conclusive consensus as far as an international copyright goes.
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Free copyright music is often mistaken with free public domain
music or music in which the copyright has expired. A copyright is
in place for the lifetime of the author plus 70 years. If more than
one songwriter has authored the music, then the copyright will be
in effect for 70 years after the death of the last surviving
contributor.
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Many people have pursued the hobby of downloading movies and songs
on the Internet and sharing them with their friends and family
online. However, this is direct violation of U.S. copyright laws.
Not surprisingly, the biggest violators of the movie copyright laws
are students. The movie industry is sending out copyright
infringement claims to college universities around the country. One
reason that college students may be the hardest hit is that they
are not aware of how serious a crime copyright infringement is.
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A copyright infringement lawsuit can occur for any number of
reasons: someone using a song in a podcast or radio program, a
writer “borrowing” information from another work, copying video or
mp3 off the Internet without permission (or sometimes, even to
another CD or DVD). Copyright infringement lawsuits are not
generally brought to the average person, unless they’re downloading
a LOT of music or movies, but usually for large operations:
software pirates reselling goods on eBay or to some other
unsuspecting victim, someone “sampling” a song to make another, or
maybe a person reselling mp3s online.
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Many people are interested in the Fair Use copyright law. The Fair
Use copyright law enables people to use portions of material that
is copyrighted for the purposes of criticism or as commentary. The
hard part for many people is understanding what is permissible
under the Fair Use copyright law and what is not permissible.
Anyone who writes or publishes should brush up on what is allowed
and what is not allowed. Using another person’s words to make news
reports, to use as a comment or criticism or to use for research,
scholarship, or for educational uses that are nonprofit are
generally considered Fair Use. In these instances, the Fair Use
copyright law allows one person or author to make use of another
person or author’s work without asking permission to do so. In
situations that do not fall within these specifications, you are
probably violating someone’s copyright if you use their work –
especially if you are using another person’s work for economic or
commercial gain.
