Copyright Laws

I am sorry to say that I missed the copyright lecture during Tuesday's class. Even though, I was not present, I got a better sense of copyright law from Rebecca Piller's notes. (Thanks Becca!) What I found most interesting in her notes was that the term for copyright in the US published works is now the author's life plus seventy years. This new termw as changed from the author's life plus fifty years because of Walt Disney's copyrights almost expiring. Also, another interesting point is that there are four factors of fair use: 1) the nature of the work 2) purpose of reproduction 3)the amount reproduced and 4) the effect of the reproduction on teh profit of teh copyright holder. These were particularly interesting to me because I am involved in theater. I can now use monologues and certain cuts from scripts for non-profit or scholarly use.

An interesting issue in copyright law is Creative Commons. This non-profit movement providees an alternative to title 17 copyright. It allows you to control the manner in which others use your work. For academic reasons, I think that others using my work would be more than fine. As long as they cite my idea, I would be glad to share my knowledge. However, I understand why it is a touchy issue with copyright. One should always check with the four factors of fair use.