Copyright and the public domain: an introduction  (Page 2/5)

Who makes copyright law?

Several international treaties set standards that all participating countries must follow when adopting or changing their copyright laws. However, within those limits, each nation sets its own laws. Those laws determine who can acquire a copyright, what rights the copyright holder enjoys, and how long the copyright lasts. As a result, copyright law varies significantly from one country to another.

In all countries, copyright law is shaped in part by legislatures, which adopt and often modify copyright statutes, and courts, which adjust and clarify the provisions of the statutes when applying them to particular cases. In so-called common law countries, courts play somewhat more important roles than they do in so-called civil law countries, but the difference is not large. In some countries, religious legal systems also affect copyright rules. A discussion of the three main types of legal system, as well as lists of the legal systems of different countries may be found here .

No matter what the legal system, however, copyright law is constantly chanigng to meet new creative, technological, and social challenges. Often those changes are driven by interest groups that seek to benefit their members. The library community has often played important roles in the shaping of copyright law in the past -- and could play even more important roles in the future.

What does copyright law cover?

Copyright law generally covers all “original works of authorship.” Such original works come in many forms. For example, in almost all countries, all of the following are protected by copyright law:

• literary works (books, articles, letters, etc.);
• musical works;
• dramatic works (operas, plays);
• graphic arts (photographs, sculptures, paintings, etc.);
• motion pictures and audiovisual works (movies, videos, television programs, etc.);
• architectural works; and
• computer software.

In some countries, sound recordings are also covered by copyright law. In other countries, sound recordings are protected by a separate, related set of rules known as “neighboring rights.” In some countries, government works -- such as maps, official reports, and judicial opinions -- are protected by copyright law; in others, they are considered part of the public domain.

It is important to remember that copyright never applies to ideas or facts . It only covers “ original expression ” -- in other words, the distinctive way in which ideas are conveyed. So, for example, the information contained in a science textbook is not protected by copyright law. You are free, after reading a textbook, to write and publish a new book conveying the same information in different words. Similarly, you are free, after reading a work of history, to write a novel incorporating the historical facts.

A few countries (most notably, the United States) require the original expression to be fixed in a tangible medium , like paper or a digital recording format, in order to be protected by copyright law. In those countries, improvisational performances -- for example, of jazz or dance -- are not protected unless their authors record them.