copyright question?

Question

Is an article that is in the newspaper that you can buy on the streets and also is published in online version of tha newspaper considered to be copywriten? Please include why or why not.

Answer 1

Yes it is. Anything and everything is automatically copyrighted and the same protection applies to material on the internet as it does to any other kind of media (eg newspaper).

The only exceptions (and there are very few) is when the copyright owner relinquishes their copyright or when a work passes into the public domain once copyright has expired. Copyright period is currently 95 years in the US, 70 years after the death of the author in many other countries.

Answer 2

The past tense of "copyright" is "copyrighted." In general copyright deals with the right to distribute or authorize copies of one's own work.

Under copyright law, material is copyrighted as soon as it is fixed in tangible form. No notice is necessary. So yes, the newspaper you buy at the newsstand and the Web site of that newspaper is copyrighted. You cannot distribute copies without permission.

Answer 3

Absolutely; anything you write is copyrighted. But why is that important? If you want to copy something from that newspaper, you want to look at How.

* You may well be able to get *permission* to copy by writing the newspaper. Tell them as much as possible about Why you want to copy, What you want to copy, and Who will be reading the copy. If your purpose doesn't compete with the paper's, you may well get that permission for free. Of course, if you're willing to pay, well, everything has a price -- the paper is a business.

* You may not need permission if you are able to claim *fair use*. Under US case law, fair use doctrine has grown up to defend the your right to use copyrighted material under some circumstances. This is a smoggy field of law and nobody can give you a definitive answer if you ask "Is *this* fair use?" However, there are certain guidelines that you can follow.

(1) Are you competing with the copyright holder? For example, you copy a music CD and sell it to your neighbor. You're taking money that would otherwise have gone to the record label. This is probably not fair use.

(2) Are you doing injury to the copyright holder's intangible property? For example, you draw from scratch a picture of Donald Duck beating Minnie Mouse with a length of bicycle chain; you post this original cartoon on your blog. This may not be fair use because your use of the *concept* of Donald Duck tends to tarnish his image.

(3) Is your use clearly satirical? The above example might fall under fair use anyway if you can demonstrate satirical intent.

(4) Is your purpose educational? For example, you photocopy a newspaper item and hand it out to your Geography class. This may be fair use.

(5) How much of the copyrighted work did you copy? If you photocopied a paragraph from that paper you have a better claim to fair use than if you copied all of Page One.

There is much, much more to the question of fair use; I haven't even scratched the surface. The most important thing to remember about fair use is that *you* have the burden of proof in court. You have to prove that your use is fair; the copyright holder who sues you does *not* have to prove that your use is not fair, only that you copied.

* Whether you claim fair use or not, you may well just get away with copying something. Much depends on who you copied. Disney is infamous for pursuing the slightest infringement; Matt Groening (creator of The Simpson's) is known actually to enjoy unauthorized ripoffs of his long-running comic, Life in Hell. Some copyright holders may lack the money, time, energy, or desire to sue you.

* The usual response by a copyright holder to your infringement is a "take down" notice: You put a copy on your blog, he writes a letter to you and probably to the blog host demanding that the copy be removed. If you comply promptly, that's likely to be the end of the matter. Of course, he *might* take you to court in hopes of winning a big cash payout. You don't know.

Don't forget, IANAL! Worse, even lawyers will be very slow to commit themselves in this field. They know that no claim of copyright violation is decided until the judge speaks -- and each judge is different.

* * *

Your question lacks needed context but I'm going to *guess* that you're thinking of copying some content from that newspaper to some sort of school term paper. Do it! It's almost certainly fair use.

But the important thing here is not copyright. Your professor wants to see you give *credit* to your source. In a footnote, put the publication, the issue, the page, and the original author. Failing to give credit hurts you more than it hurts the copyright holder.

Answer 4

Everything is automatically copyrighted (included your post to Yahoo Answers). Weither the copyright is *enforced* is another matter.

Mike Honeycutt

Answer 5

i SUSPECT THE ANSWERS ARE A BIT FLAWED. I never heard of this automatic copyright thing. Why must i register forcopyrights for my songs at library of congress. you should dig deeper....