In this ninth post I will discuss copyright, underlying & derivative works, fair use & public domain and copyleft.
Copyright
This legal concept gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. It refers to the right to copy and gives the copyright holder the right to be credited for the work, to decide who can adapt it, who may perform the work, who can financially benefit from the work etc. Copyrighted works are as seen as a form of Intellectual Property (IP).
Underlying & Derivative works
A derivative work is an expressive creation that contains major copyright-protected elements of the original (the underlying work). The transformation, modification or adaption of the original work must be substantial and feature traits of the author’s personality to be original. Common derivative works are translations, cinematic adaptions and musical arrangements. These works are only copyrighted with relevance to the original parts from the underlying work.
Fair Use & Public Domain
- Fair Use refers to a limitation to the exclusive right granted to the author of a creative work. It is a doctrine which allows the limited
use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the copyright holders. - Public Domain refers to works where the intellectual property rights have expired, been forfeited, or are inapplicable. In this case, no copyright limitations exist on such works.
Copyleft
A play on the word ‘Copyright‘, Copyleft is a general method for making a creative work as freely available to be modified, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the creative work to be free as well.
Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organisation founded by Lawrence Lessig which promotes copyleft. Creative Commons releases copyrighted licenses known as Creative Commons licenses free of charge to the public.
Image: Justin M. Maller [Artist]. (2013). Division II. Retrieved from: http://www.facets.la/2014/339/
Image: Unknown. Retrieved from: http://wallbase.cc/wallpaper/2269708
Creating Digital Media 