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[Part Two will follow in a couple of days.]
Remember when "Let your fingers do the walking" was a catch phrase for quick information gathering? LOL! The electronic tsunami that has permeated every nook and cranny of our world has not only altered our collection of gadgets but also drastically modified the way we exchange information. It affects both real-time and across-time communication. A blog written in Seattle is available to a reader in London the instant the author hits enter. Tidbits from generations of learning can be pulled up on a screen within seconds. Those of us intent upon contributing to the perpetual information pool couldn't be in a better spot. Thanks to cyberspace, authors can now display their work world-wide without having to navigate the tossing seas of traditional publishing. Still, our ultimate success hinges upon the same skill and effort as that demanded of our author ancestors, and we, like they, guard our published work intently. Our predecessors, however, did not face such a massive flow of information or the cyber copycats who view everything electronic as theirs for the taking. No wonder we have episodes of anxiety! Hopefully, the more we know about the workings of copyrights, the more we can feel confident about adding our work to the information whirlwind. The U.S. Constitution (Article1, Section 8 Clause 8) addresses the need for authors to have exclusive rights to their work for a limited time. The 1709 British Statute of Anne was the first law to directly protect an author's work. To find the emergence of the whole copyright idea, go farther back to the 1440 invention of the printing press, which forever changed the way information was stored and exchanged. Sound familiar? Today, our insatiable need to share and consume information is stretching and changing long-standing concepts. It's time for some copyright catch-up, beginning with what cannot be copyrighted. NO COPYRIGHT APPLIES Ideas Ideas never have been and never will be copyrightable. Imagine a world with a solitary book of fiction, one science fiction, a single biography, a sole vampire novel, one tale of wizardry, a lone saga of survival, etc. And we haven't even touched upon movies, cars, smart phones, and millions of other creations. Without the free flow of ideas, creativity and progress would have come to a screeching halt thousands of years ago. Thank goodness this nightmare scenario did not take place. A quick study of those societies that have actually forbidden access to selected information gives a clear view of how such restraints affect the way people live. Ideas are universal resources, not personal possessions. For an up-close example of free-flowing ideas at work, go to TeachersPayTeachers and search "book report." There are almost 5,000 items! Someone wrote and posted the first book report lesson, and then 4,999 other authors put their individual spins on the same idea. As a result, teachers can choose from 5,000 copyrighted documents-some of them excellent, some of them lousy-but available, just the same! And, legally, there is always room for another new, improved book report lesson. And another. And another. . . Names, Titles, Short Phrases As illogical as it might seem, names (products, businesses, pseudonyms), titles (books, movies, songs), and short phrases (slogans, mottoes, advertising expressions, Can you hear me now?) do NOT qualify for copyright protection. Two or more sellers can post items with the same title without infringing upon each other's rights, although one would hope we are much more creative than that. Furthermore, Paul Edelman could write a theme song for TpT and call it "Strawberry Fields Forever." Whether he should or not is a whole other issue! COPYRIGHT BASICS AND AUTHOR'S OPTIONS Though ideas, names, titles, and popular phrases cannot be owned by individuals, writers certainly can lay legal claim to their "original works of authorship," and it's easier than ever, thanks to technology. Traditional Copyright The US Copyright Act of 1976 spells out the basic rights of copyrights holders, addresses the idea of "fair use," and sets time limitations. This Act replaced the 1909 version, which did not take into consideration the new electronic media of the day-television, moves, sound recordings, and radio. Is there an echo in here? According to the 1976 Copyright Act · any original work of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, is granted copyright protection. This applies as soon the work is completed, whether or not it is published or formally registered. · the author has exclusive rights to his/her intellectual property-all rights reserved. Those who wish to use the work for their own purposes must get permission. · copyrighted material is subject to fair use, which means it can be used without the author's permission for criticism, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research purposes. Of course, this does not mean schools can snatch up a for-sale item and use it without paying, but once purchased, fair use applies. (More on fair use in Part Two.) · the author holds intellectual property rights for a lifetime plus 50 years (for inheritance purposes) before the work become public domain. Formal Registration of Copyrighted Work Before 1976, only formally registered materials enjoyed copyright protection. Currently, an author's rights apply as soon as a work is fixed in any tangible medium. Still, official registration with the US Copyright Office is required should an author engage in a litigated copyright infringement dispute. Until recently, the only way to formally register a work involved filling out papers, shipping hard copies, and paying fees of $50-$65 per item. This method is still available, but a better resource is the eCO (Electronic Copyright Office) where registration, file submissions, and payment of fees ($35 per item) can be completed by computer. Because so many people are now self-publishing, there is a long wait time-up to a year or more-for snail mail delivery of certificates, but a submission is legally registered as soon as it enters the system and gets a case number. Obviously, formal registration can be an expensive proposition, especially for prolific writers. For us, one option would be to register only top-selling items. Another would be to bundle small items into a common category as a single product. Or, we can choose to let the automatic copyright stand. It's a matter of costs vs. rewards. With official registration, the possibility of infringement is minimized and legal clout is maximized-a distinct advantage to authors who write and publish in a traditional market. Our unique positions as TpT Teacher/Authors and the specific nature of our work, however, minimizes the chances that any of us will ever be personally involved in a copyright infringement proceeding. Formal or standard-either way your work is protected. To what degree is a matter of individual choice. Creative Commons Licenses The rigid all-rights-reserved stance of the 1976 Copyright Act does not always partner well with today's instantly accessible, free flowing currents of information. A re-thinking of the situation is already in progress. Déjà vu! Creative Commons, a non-profit organization founded in 2001, has set out to loosen copyright restrictions by forging a more abundant pool of creative works that others can legally modify and share with impunity. To accomplish this goal, the company offers a series of licenses, free of charge, that enable authors to keep their traditional copyrights while also choosing to allow their work to be copied, distributed, edited, remixed, or builtupon under the condition that they be given full credit. This option, which applies only to work already protected by copyright, is often referred to as "copyleft" and "some rights reserved." Wikipedia is an example of a web-based organization operating on a Creative Commons license. A number of TpT teacher/authors are using CC resources. Interested? Click HERE. Keep in mind that a CC license is in addition to and not a substitute for a standard copyright. It simply allows authors to give the public specific rights to their work otherwise prohibited by copyright laws. In 2007, the company began a focus on minimizing legal, technical, and social barriers that block the sharing and reuse of educational materials. Go HERE to read more. Creative Common, it seems, is opening doors that will change the way educators may use copyrighted materials-a move that is affecting us from several different directions. (More about this in Part Two). Marking Your Work Though not required by law, attaching copyright notices to your work is advisable as it leaves no doubt that you believe the product to be your original intellectual property. The simplest method is to include a small-font notice in the footer of each page-Copyright © Margaret Whisnant 2011, for example. In addition, a cover/introductory page with copyright notices such as All rights reserved by author, Duplication limited to classroom use only, and Electronic distribution limited to classroom use only, is a good idea. Even Creative Commons encourages authors to include copyright notices on their work. Let's all agree not to skip this step! DECISIONS Understanding and using copyright basics is an important peripheral of authorship. Armed with this knowledge, we can hit "enter" without trepidation and send our work out to ride the waves into classrooms or other ports unknown, ready for whatever we encounter!
Margaret Whisnant TpT Teacher/Author |
