3.3: Copyright
This learning pathway focuses on your legal rights to make copies of copyrighted material. Since open licensing is based on copyright you need a clear understanding of how copyright works to use or create creative works that apply open licenses. Since online interactions and learning materials are published online, your exposure to risks associated with copyright breaches increase.
Upon successful completion of this subunit, you will be able to:
- explain the origins of copyright;
- explain the scope, rights, protections, exceptions, and, transfer of copyright; and
- discuss the ethics associated with the ownership of ideas in the context of copyright and intellectual property.
This animated video was produced by QuestionCopyright.org, an organization dedicated to reframing the way artists and audiences think about copyright. The video provides a short but powerful message that copying does not necessarily prevent simultaneous consumption by other users and highlights a number of interesting tensions and perceptions about copying in a digital world.
Copyright is a branch or subsection of intellectual property law which aims to protect the outputs of intellect through, for example, trademarks, patents, designs, software licenses and copyright. In this learning pathway we restrict our study to providing an introduction to to copyright law.
In his book Free Culture. How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity, Lawrence Lessig argues that the default “© copyright all rights reserved” (applicable in most countries) contradicts the original purpose of copyright: to promote progress in science and the useful arts – a public good.[1] The purpose is not to enrich publishers or authors, or grant them undue influence on development and distribution of culture.
Disclaimer: These course materials are designed to provide an introduction to copyright for learners. This subunit forms part of a course on open education, copyright and open licensing and should not be considered as a replacement for detailed study of copyright law. However, copyright is prerequisite knowledge to understand and implement open content licensing.
These course materials are not intended to provide legal advice. Copyright is a complex area of law and there are differences between the copyright legislation of individual countries around the world which cannot be addressed in a generic introductory unit. Please consult a qualified legal professional for advice on copyright at your institution.
This subunit on copyright provides a brief introduction to copyright for an international audience. In a digital world, the implementation of intellectual property rights across national borders can be complex. In this section we focus on global work and introduce the basic principles of how copyright works in an international context.
Copyright provides protections for a number of exclusive rights for the copyright holder:
- Economic rights relating to the rights to restrict reproduction, distribution and adaptations of the work;
- Moral rights relating to interests which are not financial or monetary;
- Related rights to protect persons other than the authors who are involved in the dissemination of copyrighted works;
- Transfer of rights relating to assignment of rights, licensing and transfer of rights.
These exclusive copyright protections are limited for a period of time and restricted by a number of exceptions.
Copyright aims to balance the exclusive rights of authors with the general interests of society regarding access to knowledge and information. All copyright laws will include a number of exceptions or limitations which enable use of copyrighted works at no cost without prior permission of the copyright holder. Generally speaking, the exceptions are quite restricted, vary considerably from country to country and very often are open to different interpretations. These exceptions are associated with the concept of fair use in the United States, and fair dealing (less flexible) in Commonwealth countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In civil law jurisdictions this is treated under the limitations and exceptions to copyright. A few countries provide more liberal uses for education in their national legislation, but these typically do not adequately address teaching in a digital world. The exceptions of copyright can be grouped into the following categories:
- Freedom of expression
- Access to knowledge for the benefit of the public
- Private or personal use
Note: The requirements and tests for exceptions vary considerably from country to country.
Given that copyright and associated economic rights are automatic and first ownership vests with the author (or sometimes the employer in the case of works created during the course of employment in common law jurisdictions) the distribution and marketing of copyrighted works very often require the transfer of rights to the distributor. This may involve some form of contractual remuneration or compensation in the form of a fixed fee and/or royalties based on the sales volume of the published work.
