COPYRIGHT

the exclusive, legally secured right to publish, reproduce, and sell the matter and form of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work. Copyright is designed primarily to protect an artist, publisher, or other owner against any unauthorized copying of his worksas by reproducing the work in any material form, publishing it, performing it in public, filming it, broadcasting it, causing it to be distributed to subscribers, or making any adaptation of the work. A copyright supplies a copyright holder with a kind of monopoly over the created material, which assures him of both control over its use and the pecuniary benefits derived from it. Historically copyrights grew out of the same system as royal patent grants, by which certain authors and printers were given the exclusive right to publish books and other materials. The purpose of such grants was not to protect authors' or publishers' rights but to raise government revenue and to give governing authorities control over publication contents. This system was in effect in late 15th-century Venice as well as in 16th-century England, where the London Stationers' Company achieved a monopoly on the printing of books and was regulated by the Court of Star Chamber. The Statute of Anne, passed in England in 1710, was a milestone in the history of copyright law. It recognized that authors should be the primary beneficiaries of copyright law; it also established the idea that such laws should have only limited duration, after which works could pass into public domain. The designated period came to be set at 28 years. Similar laws were enacted in Denmark (1741), the United States (1790), and France (1793). Through the 19th century most civilized countries established laws that protected the work of native authors. With the development of technology in communications in the industrial age, there was increasing concern over the protection of authors' rights on an international scale. In 1852 France extended the protection of its copyright laws to all authors, regardless of nationality. This began a movement for some international accord, which eventually came about at a meeting in Berne, Switz., in 1886. The Berne Convention adopted there resulted in the formation by 14 original member states of the Berne Union. The core of the convention is its provision that each of the contracting countries shall provide automatic protection for works in other countries of the union and for unpublished works whose authors are citizens of or residents in such other countries. In 1988 the United States reversed its long-standing opposition to the Berne Convention and approved membership in the Berne Union, effective in the following year. The United States Copyright Law nonetheless continues to differ somewhat from the general laws of other member countries. One major difference is in the treatment of moral rights, which includes the right of an author to preserve his or her work from any alteration. The Berne Convention recognizes such right of integrity, while U.S. copyright law does not. In the United States, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution authorizes Congress to create a national copyright system to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors . . . the exclusive Right to their . . . Writings. Congress' last major revision of its copyright law was in 1978. That legislation specifies that copyright subsists in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression and provides that such works include literary, musical, and dramatic works; pantomimes and choreographic works; pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; motion pictures and other audiovisual works; and sound recordings. Under this legislation, copyright extends to computer programs, while a separate statute (the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984) affords protection for mask works fixed in a semiconductor chip product. Under certain circumstances, computer programs may receive patent protection where the program is part of product or process claims. The enactment of 1978 accords to the owner of copyright the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute the work, to prepare derivative works, and to publicly perform and display the work. These rights, however, are made the subject of numerous limitations, one of the most important being fair use, which is not considered an infringement. Among the other limitations imposed on the rights of copyright owners are certain compulsory licenses, including licenses for certain retransmissions by cable-television systems and for the public performance of copyrighted musical works in coin-operated players. The enactment established the Copyright Royalty Tribunal, with the power to adjust the royalty rates under these compulsory licenses and to redistribute the royalty fees. An important feature of the legislation of 1978 is the establishment of the general term of copyright protection as the life of the author plus 50 years. For anonymous works, pseudonymous works, and works made for hire, the term is 75 years from first publication or 100 years from the date of creation of the work, whichever is shorter. Under the new law, all terms of copyright run through the end of the calendar year in which they would otherwise expire. Copyrights secured prior to the 1978 revision last 28 years from the date originally secured, as previously provided by law; the second term of an existing copyright, however, may be renewed for an additional 47 years (for a total of 75 years). The new act contains the requirement of a notice of copyright to be affixed to copies and phonorecords of published works in such manner and location as to give reasonable notice of the claim to copyright. Although the provisions are complex, the notice for copies should generally contain the symbol , the word Copyright, or the abbreviation Copr., together with the year of first publication and the name of the owner of copyright. For phonorecords of sound recordings the notice should be the symbol together with the year of first publication and the name of the owner of copyright in the sound recording. A second international convention was convened in Geneva in 1952 and took effect in 1955. The Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) exists alongside the Berne Convention. The UCC provides for the same protection of foreign works as for domestic works in all countries, regardless of where the work was first published; it also provides exclusivity for translation rights up to seven years. By calling for inclusion of the copyright symbol on first publication date of a work, the UCC requirements effectively included U.S. practice also.