Klarinet Archive - Posting 000746.txt from 1998/10

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] copyright
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 11:35:15 -0400

Clarinet is a subject on which I have delusions of mediocrity from time to
time. Copyright I know well--it's what I do, as an attorney for a
relatively large and unloved software company.

The info provided by John and Dee is correct. While an "artistic work" is
now automatically copyrighted on creation, good luck proving it's yours
without the proper registration.

kjf

John wrote:

>Hello, folks -- I'm drawn out of my lurking by a topic about which I
>actually know something, unlike many others discussed on this list, where I
>am strictly in a learning mode.
>
>Any work of your own creation, as soon as it is in a tangible medium of
>expression, is protected by copyright. You may put a copyright notice on
>it or not -- it makes no difference. Additionally, there is absolutely no
>danger of it falling under public domain simply because you didn't put a
>notice on it.
>One more myth to blow up: mailing a copy of your work to yourself is of no
>legal value. The assumption of the court is that it's too easy to tamper
>with envelopes, especially if there is big money at stake. In other words,
>there is no way to demonstrate sufficient security to insure the validity
>of the date and the content.
>
>With that said, it is important for you to register your copyright with the
>U.S. Copyright Office (a department of the Library of Congress). Just
>because the copyright is yours doesn't mean that you won't have to fight
>somebody for it. These battles are going on every day in courts all across
>the country. If your copyright is not registered, or there are other
>ambiguities, then you have to have lawyers try to prove your case in court
>based on whatever evidence you can muster.
>
>It's a pretty easy process. Check out the website at:

Dee added:

Plus there are websites maintained by several musical and writer's
organization that include examples of current court interpretations. And
you can read the actual text of the copyright law on one of the federal
government sites.

Just to expand a bit, for works published on or after Mar 1, 1989, the
copyright notice is optional but highly recommended. For works published
before that date, copyright notice is mandatory.

Registration is the cheapest and simplest way to prove that the piece is
yours. Any other approach means a lengthy and costly battle to prove it is
yours and even then some courts take the point of view that if you couldn't
be bothered to register it, they will make the other guy stop using it but
you might not be allowed to recover any financial losses or damages.

If I have read the information correctly on the various sites, you can
submit more than one item on each application and the $20 fee is per
application not per item.

In my opinion, if the author doesn't think it's worth the $20 registration
fee, he isn't serious and should not publish privately, publicly, or "copies
to friends" until he is serious enough to register it. Nor should he even
play it in the hearing of other people. If money is an issue (and there's
been times in my life when $20 would have been a hardship), securely store
the piece until you can afford the registration.

It is not right to cry for the protection of the copyright law if you are
not willing to follow the rules.

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