Copyright and Licensingan introduction

L. Shyamal2014

Disclaimer : not to be treated as legal advice

©

History of copyright laws

• Prior to printing - physical controls on scribes and access– Prohibited books and censorship (eg. by the Pope in 1501)

• Stationers’ Company - rights for the book trade (not author)• Statute of Anne in April 1710 (but real effect only from 1774)

– a bargain between authors, booksellers and the public– 21 years for those already in print and 14 years for new– Limit created the “public domain”

• Berne Convention 1886 onwards - international agreements• WIPO Copyright Treaty or WCT (1996)

– automatic copyright (no registration) across signatories– life + a minimum of 50 years – India is a signatory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_copyright_law

• Copyright versus patent and relation to plagiarism• Copyright is automatic - when “fixed in a tangible medium”• Copyright aims to protect creative expression - not ideas• Copyright laws vary despite international agreements• “Public Domain” works can still be restricted by

• property rights• contractual agreements

• Complications related to • database rights• moral rights• personality rights• “freedom of panorama”• Doctrine of first sale

• And a lot of grey areas http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

Some essentials

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_Round_Agreements_Act

• Steady duration increases from life of author + 50 to 60 and now 70 years

• Complications arising from US law - especially valid for Wikipedia as servers are located in the US - no to “rule of the shorter term”

• Most Copyright law amendments driven by industry recording, movies, book publishers

not always in favour of the general public

Current trends

http://copyright.gov.in/Documents/CopyrightRules1957.pdf

Based on UK lawsTerm of copyright in photographs - 60 years Term of copyright in Government work - 60 yearsIncludes “rule of the shorter term”

Indian Copyright Act 1957

Licensing in the UK

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#105

17 USC § 105

Tax-payer’s and their rights

Right to Information Act 2005 ?

Some progress

• Digital technology and the Internet challenge the idea of “copy”

• Many “copies” are made on the wire, along the path, by service providers and so on

• Content mixed and reused in new ways • What constitutes fair / commercial use becomes

difficult to tell

• Q: does linking a file violate copyright?• Q: does embedding an image on another server violate copyright?• Q: does an image search engine violate copyright law?

Technological change and legal legacies

Works created by large numbers of “authors”On Wikipedia every edit creates a derivative

4 Freedoms• Use • Modify• Share• Share modifications

Allowing commercial support - GNU/Linux - a successful model

A need for “Freedom”

Creative Commons - A range of licensing options

Acceptable

Not-acceptable

Wikimedia Commons

You can license what you have rights onPhotographs of natural objects, illustrations made by you

2D images of 3D objects in public space (varies with country)buildingssculpturePeople in public space Images of objects in museum (permanent and public exhibits)Photographs of routinely manufacture items

You can use material in the public domainCopies of paintings or photos in public domain

What is welcome on Wikimedia Commons

Own photographs of a copyrighted image

Copies of copyrighted paintings

3D replicas of existing copyrighted 3D objects

People in private situations (Personality Rights)

Images of objects in special exhibits in museum (non-permanent)

Photographs of items that represent copyrighted items

What is not acceptable

• Scan of a photo of your famous grandfather from your family album• Photo of statue at road crossing• Photo of statue in a private collection• Photo of an animal in the zoo• Photo of a pet belonging to someone else• Photo of the President of India taken from Government website• Photo of a Rupee coin• Scan of a 10 Rupee note• Map of India (pre-1923) • Survey of India - Map of India • US Army map of India• Google Earth screenshot• Photograph showing Jawaharlal Nehru

(pre-1947, photographer unknown)

Test yourself

• Scan of an Indian postage stamp issued in 1972• Scan of an Indian postage stamp issued in 1940• Photo of a painting by M.F. Hussain (d. 2011)• Photo of your friend standing with a painting by M.F. Hussain in background• Singing Happy Birthday song• Happy birthday song used in a movie • Painting made by an elephant(!)• Recording of a folk song• Recording yourself singing the lyrics of an out of copyright song

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/06/economist-explains-10

More ...

• Recording of the song of a bird• Use a copyrighted font in your document• Trace a map made by the Survey of India• An artistic map based on a map by the Survey of India

And some more ...