Claudia Holland, head of the Copyright Resources Office at George Mason University, joined us in class today for a lecture on copyright policy.

Copyright traits include:

  • expression of creativity
  • element of originality
  • fixation

Protected works include:

  • music
  • movies
  • literature
  • sound
  • architecture

Unprotected works include:

  • ideas
  • principles
  • methods of operation
  • public domain
  • basic facts
  • titles and names
  • short phrases and slogans
  • generally, anything published prior to 1923

When using a copyrighted source, attribution is always required, except in the case of resources used for school/educational purposes. Although most everything nowadays is copyrighted, you can’t copyright certain mechanisms — for example, you can’t copyright the way a watch works, but you can copyright the design of the watch.

Rights of copyright owners:

  • reproduction
  • manufacturing
  • public display and performace
  • merchandise
  • digital audio transmission

The Fair Use rule allows people the right to use pieces of a certain copyrighted work, however they must adhere to the four elements of Fair Use, which are:

  • purpose and character of the use
  • nature of the work
  • amount and substantiality of the portion used
  • effect of the use on the potential market