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Forum: Music discussion

Topic: international copyright law

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sbangsPRO InfinityMember since 2004
FUN!!!! and very important :)

mistakes can lead to large fines

lets have a look at the basics

please now go to
and have a read of what is copyrite

What is a Copyright?

Copyright is a protection that covers published and unpublished literary, scientific and artistic works, whatever the form of expression, provided such works are fixed in a tangible or material form. This means that if you can see it, hear it and/or touch it - it may be protected.

So when does it come into affect

"Copyright protection begins when any of the above described work is actually created and fixed in a tangible form. "

this means from the moment a song is composed it is now undercopyright

when does this expire ?

When does Copyright Protection end, or expire?

50 years after the artists death

If a copyright statement reads, "© Copyright 1998, 1999 John Smith." does that mean that John Smith's copyright expired in 1999? NO ! , The dates that you see in a copyright statement do not refer to the dates that the owner's material will expire and become public domain - they actually refer to the dates that the material was created.


Now lets look at the individual laws for each of the main countries in the forum sorry if i miss you off!

United Kingdom copyright methodology
Main article: Copyright law of the United Kingdom
British law states that an individual's work is placed under copyright law as soon as it leaves that person's mind and is placed in some physical form, be it a painting, a musical work written in manuscript or an architectural schematic. Once in physical form, as long as it is an original work (in the sense of not having been copied from an existing work, rather than in the sense of being novel or unique), copyright in that work is automatically vested in (i.e. owned by) the person who put the concept into material form. There may be exceptions to this rule, depending on the nature of the work, whether it was created in the course of employment and the purposes for which the work was created. The UK copyright distinctively emphasizes the labour and skill[1] that has gone into the work, which is why some of its basic principle are sometimes referred to as the 'Sweat of the Brow' doctrine. This stands in contrast to the usual emphasis on creativity—most countries have adopted copyright laws that do not consider labour and skill as relevant. The term 'Unfair Use'[2] is sometimes used in this context to refer to the use of a work into which somebody has invested a lot of skill and labour, but where little or no creativity is present. This is mainly relevant for reproduction photography and retouching of public domain work and for 'simple' databases, where, in contrast to collections, no creativity was involved in selecting the records.

Evidentiary issues may arise if the person who authored a work has only their word to prove that the work is original and their own work. The author of an unpublished manuscript or little-known publication, which is remarkably similar to a popular novel, will have an uphill battle convincing a court that the popular novel infringes the copyright in their obscure work. Taking some precautionary steps may help to establish independent creation and authorship.

For example, when a web designer designs a webpage (based upon his own work) under a contract for services, the webmaster owns the copyright in at least the underlying code of that website. A common and simple practice to obtain evidence in favour of authorship is to place the copyright material in an envelope or package together with a document signed by several people stating that they have examined the work prior to it being sealed and that in their opinion it is original. Once this is done the package is mailed to the owner by recorded delivery, which helps to establish when the work was created, who the originator of the work is and that there are signatory validators prepared to state that it is original. Once this process is complete the package and contents may be able to be usable in a court of law as evidence of date of creation (and so priority) if necessary.


German Urheberrecht

Franz Zauleck's logo Laufendes Auge – ineligible for German copyrightGerman Urheberrecht is a droit d'auteur style law, which means that there is a special emphasis on the relation between the work and its actual author. There is no corporate copyright in Germany and the fundamental rights cannot be transferred except by heritage. However, exclusive licenses are almost as powerful as copyright transfer (and, according to the law, such an exclusive license is given to the employer automatically if the work contract does not make a different arrangement). A significant difference is that licenses can only extend to known uses of the work, so if somebody submitted a scientific paper to a journal before the internet was a known use for them (1995 is usually assumed as a key date), the journal arguably did not obtain the rights for internet distribution according to the Urheberrecht.

Court decisions have set vastly different standards for the eligibility of works of applied art on the one hand and other types of work on the other, especially fine art. While the barrier is usually very low for fine art and protection is granted even for minimal creativity (dubbed 'kleine Münze'), there are extremely high standards for applied art to be reached for it to achieve copyright protection. This is so because Geschmacksmuster (design patents) and Schriftzeichengesetz (typeface patents) are seen as lex specialis for applied art such that the threshold of originality must not be assumed low for them. This has been confirmed by courts several times, especially for logos, but also for earrings.

Since the respective EU directive has been implemented, simple databases enjoy a very limited (15 years) 'sweat of the brow' like protection.


Spanish copyright law
The Spanish copyright is regulated in the Intellectual Property Law[3] formulated in 1987 and amended in 1996. Currently, the copyright holds during the lifetime of the author plus 70 years. It always assigns copyright to the author and he or she is not allowed to disclaim it.

The law explicitly allows the right to make private copies of copyrighted work without the author's consent for published audiovisual works if the copy is not for commercial use. To compensate authors, the law establishes a compensatory tax associated with certain recording media (CDs, DVDs, cassettes), managed through societies of authors and editors (as SGAE and CEDRO). Some consumer's associations and specialized lawyers contend that the current legislation allows file sharing (as with p2p networks) as this is not for profit and is for private use [4][5]. Additionally, the Penal Code explicitly requires the intention of commercial profit in order to commit a crime against the Intellectual Property [6].


United States copyright law
Main article: United States copyright law
The US Constitution allows Congress to grant exclusive rights to authors in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, also known as the Copyright Clause, which also gives Congress the power to enact statutes: To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries. 17 U.S.C. § 105, withholds copyright from all publications produced by the United States Government, and its agents or employees while in their employment. All such work is therefore in the public domain in some sense.

Congress first exercised this power with the enactment of the Copyright Act of 1790, and has changed and updated copyright statutes several times since. The Copyright Act of 1976, though it has been modified since its enactment, is currently the basis of copyright law in the United States.

The length of the copyright term within the United States was extended by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act which made the copyright term the life of the author plus 70 years for works created after January 1, 1978. In the case of a work of corporate authorship (also known as "Work for Hire") the term will be 95 years from the date of first publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever expires first. This legislation was challenged in court and affirmed by the US Supreme Court in the landmark copyright decision, Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003), in which the Supreme Court agreed that the length of the copyright term (ie, during which the copyright holder has a monopoly on its exploitation) could be extended by Congress after the original act of creation and beginning of the copyright term, as long as the extension itself was limited instead of perpetual. The duration of U.S. copyright for works created before 1978 is a complex matter; however, works published before 1923 are all in the public domain. In the US, after the death of a copyright holder, heirs inherit the copyright

Tajikstan
Copyright in Tajikistan is covered by the Law on Copyright and Related rights of Republic of Tajikistan. Article 7 of this law defines what is not eligible to Copyright in the Republic. This includes: official documents (laws, court decisions, other texts of legislative, administrative or judicial character) and official translations thereof; state emblems and official signs (flags, armorial bearings, decorations, monetary signs and other State symbols and official signs); communications concerning events and facts that have informational character; and works of folklore.

Austrailian law is very hard to explain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_copyright_law

more info here :)


Ok so this means all music is copyrighted unless you made it ur self but what does this mean to you as a dj ?

if you purchase a cd from a shop intened for home used marked "banned from public proformance"

in countries

such as the uk you (check with your local autorities)

will need to contact the songs owers and get permison

or pay a licence

for more information contact your local autority on what is the exact law in your state / administrative area

however their is a loop hole for chairities and not for profit organisations
who can apply for a free licence from the licencing organisations in their countries

in europe there is about to be a large change in licences


here for more info
http://www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk/licensingthefuture


in the uk specificaly a new licence is required for digital djs (users of virtual dj and other dj software)

http://www.ppluk.com/ppl/ppl_lf.nsf/DigitalDJ?openPage

to grant permsion to play songs of a laptop

http://www.ppluk.com/ppl/ppl_lf.nsf/PDFs/$file/Digital_DJ_Licence_FAQs.pdf

this document explains all aspects of the licence

it allows a storage of 20,000 songs



however if you purchase pre licened dj compliations this licence is not required

the same goes for downloadable acapellas you need to contact the orginal owner or buy the acapella in a royalty free format from a licenced sample source

if you know about this issue and can post more please do

if you know the law in your country please post it here

:)

hope this helps even if its in a a small way

regards skyfxl

 

Posted Fri 24 Nov 06 @ 9:20 pm


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