4.+Copyright+and+the+Law

A practical cure for the problem of showing that a work was in fact copied is to embed "identifiers" such as misspellings and useless loops or variables. The objective is to hide them so that they will show up in copies which are claimed to be, but are not, independently created. If so, the issue will no longer be the alleged copier's credibility. ” (Thomas G. Field, 2009)
 * “Expressions are Protected, not Facts or Ideas ** . The basic idea is easily illustrated: An author of an online story has protection for her words, but not for facts that she went to the trouble to collect or her basic plot. Similarly, a programmer has protection from others' duplicating a segment of code but not from their writing different code to accomplish the same end. Protection for facts as such is probably not available, and processes can be protected, if at all, only by trade secrets or patents. [For more on the last option in particular, see Seeking Cost-Effective Patents, right-hand navigation bar.] That said, caution is nevertheless warranted. Copying someone's creative presentation of facts could easily infringe. Also, merely translating from one language into another may infringe -- just as would translating a novel from French to English.
 * Independent Creation is Permitted**. A second work, identical to an earlier copyrighted work, does not infringe, if it is, in fact, independently created. While a well-known first work of a very unique or fanciful kind may make an independent creation defense difficult to believe, the problem may be more complicated with regard to some kinds of software. Assume that, code has been copied with slight variations from the original, and it is claimed that function dictated form.

"There are four basic requirements for copyright protection. First, the work must be in a category which is protected by the Copyright Act. That is literary works (including software), artistic, musical or dramatic works, films, sound recording and published editions. Second, the work must have been captured in a material form. That means it must be written down, made into a recording or be in some other physical form. Material posted on the internet is covered by this provision. Third, it must be original. According to Ayres, this test for originality is not particularly high but the work must not be a copy of another work. And finally, the work must have a connection with Australia. It must be created by a citizen or resident or someone from a country that has reciprocal signed treaty rights with Australia. Copyright normally vests immediately in the person who created the work. That would be a songwriter, author, photographer or the director of a film. But there are notable exceptions to this. For example, the copyright for works created during the course of employment normally vests in the employer. Copyright for works created at the "direction and control" of the Commonwealth vests with the Crown. And the copyright in portraits normally vests in the person who has commissioned the work. So you will probably own the copyright in professional photographs of your wedding, for example. That is unless you signed away those rights in a contract with the photographer. "You can alter copyright ownership by contract," Ayres says. "If you want to transfer copyright that you own, it must be done in writing. But you can give someone an oral licence to use your copyrighted work." One form of licence that is growing in popularity is the Creative Commons licence. This allows other people to copy and use your work free. It's a little bit like open source software: copyright owners agree to allow others to reproduce, alter or use their creative works under certain circumstances. Usually that means the original author must be acknowledged but there are a range of licences available." (Baxter, 2007)

· names, titles and slogans as these are not usually considered to be substantial works which are the result of sufficient skill and labour. However, other forms of legislation such as trademark and trade practices may be relevant. · ideas or concepts – copyright just protects the expression of the idea or concept. · basic facts such as names and addresses are usually not protected by copyright although the methodology used to arrange them in a database may be protected.
 * Generally, copyright doesn’t protect the following: **

Copyright protects the written expression of an idea or concept - it does not protect the actual idea or concept itself. Copyright doesn’t give the author of a work a monopoly over the ideas or information expressed in that work – anyone can use the ideas contained in a work provided they do not use the exact words used by the author to describe the idea or concept.
 * What does copyright protect? **

There isn’t necessarily a connection between the ownership of an item and the ownership of copyright in the item. When you buy a book or an artwork you do not automatically acquire the copyright in that book or artwork. The copyright remains with the author or the artist unless there has been an agreement to transfer ownership of copyright.

The Copyright Act gives the copyright owner a number of exclusive rights in relation to their works including: · the right to control the reproduction of their work · moral rights in their work · performers’ rights in their work [|Back to Top]  **Reproduction rights ** This group of rights allows a copyright owner to control the reproduction of their work. Copyright owners have the right to: Usually you need the copyright owner’s permission before you can reproduce their work without infringing their copyright. However, the Copyright Act contains some exceptions which permit copying of limited amounts of material without the permission of the copyright owner. See the following sections of the website for a discussion of these exceptions. 
 * Owners' rights **

Copyright owners can exercise these rights themselves or they may give someone else permission to exercise those rights. This permission is usually referred to as assigning rights or granting a licence. Copyright owners often grant a licence to permit use of their work in return for the payment of fees or royalties. The licence will usually set out the conditions such as the purposes for which the work can be used and the duration of the licence. · to publish their work · to make copies of their work · to make their work available online by placing it on a website · <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">to perform their work in public · <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">to make adaptations of their work including translations of literary works, arrangements of musical works and sampling parts of musical works <span style="color: #125687; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">[|Back to Top] <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> **<span style="color: #ce1126; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Moral rights ** <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The Copyright Act grants individual copyright owners three main moral rights: · <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">the right of attribution – the right to be identified as the author of the work · <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">the right against false attribution - the right to take action against false attribution · <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">the right of integrity – the right to object to derogatory treatment of their work which prejudicially affects their reputation or honour <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Moral rights recognise that a work can be an extension of the creator’s personality and that the relationship between the creator and their work should be respected. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Moral rights apply to most types of material protected by copyright such as literary, dramatic, artistic and musical works. From 26 July 2007 performers have moral rights in their live and recorded performances.
 * <span style="color: #ce1126; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">What types of works have moral rights? **

Moral rights do NOT apply to: · <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">broadcasts · <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">published editions · <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">moral rights are only granted to individual authors and creators. Organisations, corporate bodies and companies are not granted moral rights. · <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">moral rights remain with the creator even though that person may have assigned their copyright to another party and may no longer be the copyright owner. · <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">creators cannot sell their moral rights but they can consent to others carrying out actions which would otherwise infringe their moral rights
 * <span style="color: #ce1126; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Who owns moral rights? **

(Sydney, 2009)