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Re: Schematics & Copyrights
 11/2/1999 1:19 PM |
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Jack | Re: Schematics & Copyrights
Copyright is automatically bestowed on a work once it is "fixed in any tangible medium of expression". However, it would be necessary to formally file for a copyright before legal action could be taken against someone infringing on the work. Works published before 1/1/1978 without a copyright notice are public domain as is anything created before 1923. Works published without notice between 1-1-78 and 3-1-89 retain copyright only if registration was made within 5 years of their creation. "Intent to infringe is not needed to find copyright infringement." - U.S. District Court. If you post a schematic that was drawn by someone else, and they merely copied a manufacturer's drawing, then you could also be guilty of infringement. Title 17, U.S.C., Section 102(b) sez: "in no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work." This is a little difficult to understand but one U.S. Court described it thusly: "The use of the art is a totally different thing from a publication of the book explaining it. The copyright of a book on book-keeping cannot secure the exclusive right to make, sell, and use account-books prepared upon the plan set forth in such book." In other words, books of blank forms will not be covered by copyright, no matter how unique they might be, and even if they follow the design from a copyright-protected book. (but you see copyrights on blank accounting books all the time; which are likely invalid) A defense against copyright infringement is often "fair use". Section 107 of the US Code says "the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright." Section 107 also lists 4 factors for consideration in determining fair use. The entire (fun reading) copyright section of the US Code is online at http://www.bitlaw.com/source/17usc/index.html regards, Jack | |
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| John Stokes Jack, wow! I'm impressed! You rea... -- 11/2/1999 5:39 PM Carlo q{Title 17, U.S.C., Section 102(b) ... -- 11/2/1999 11:44 PM |