It seems that everyone is claiming copyrights. But what does it mean?

It was not so long ago that when the issue of copyrights was mentioned, we would have referred it to authors. When we open a book to read, we will be reminded that the work is copyrighted as stated usually on the first few pages. Today, when that term is mentioned, we unconsciously would be inferring it to the web. Indeed, it has become ubiquitous. When we view a web page, we will see the copyright sign right at the bottom. And we are reminded that the contents are copyrighted, so we are not allowed to use it for commercial purposes. But like Adam and Eve, we probably could not care less. So we copied and paste portions of the content unto our website or blogs or comments, in the belief that we won’t be found out! Are we doing something wrong?

According to the copyright act of the US, once we have created something, be it writing, an art piece, a movie or a song, or anything that has been rendered into something originating from our thoughts, then it is automatically covered by copyrights. And we will probably have to pay to use it. Fair enough, otherwise no one will want to create them. However, the problem arises when we disputes what are copyrightable. The law stipulates that ‘creative works’ are copyrightable. In its most human form, a copyright is a human right. You create something and you have the right of ownership. It is based if not on the communist doctrine, then on the Right of the First Amendment to the US Constitution! And let it be known that nobody else have the right to take it away from you. To do so is to steal and that is a criminal offense.

The reason why there is so much hoo-ha about people being sued for copyright infringement is because a lot of people don’t give a hoot about human rights. Yes, ironically, they only think of their own human right if somebody else were to step on their toes, but not when they step on other people’s toe! So they feel that what they see they can take. Fortunately, there is a Copyright Act; otherwise, people would be plundering each other like no other business. When the internet was made available to every one, people forgot that there are also rules to follow. It would not be surprised that they don’t teach about human rights in our schools. The result is that when you are given access to the web, you just take away what you like, and in most probability, you would have reasoned that since Joe next door is doing it, why not you! But of course it is wrong. You will need to seek permission to use it.

Fortunately, the law, especially the copyright law, has a clause that says you are allowed to copy the content, provided it is for a ‘fair use’ or that you have to put an attribute somewhere to show that it is not your original work. Now, under fair usage, you are allowed to quote a portion of the whole content. However, there is no fast rule to say what constitute a portion, but it is generally meant not more than ten percent. So, how you copy somebody’s creative work and how you used it for your own purpose will determine whether you have infringed on somebody’s work. In any case, you must be seen to be sincere and not like people who use file sharing programs to download whole stock and barrel!

Suthin has several years experience on copyrights. Get in touch with him at malaysia intellectual property agent for assistance.

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