Copyright Law: Public Display and Performance

Copyright Basics

• Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression.
• Copyright law provides the owner with exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and display the work publicly.

Exclusive Rights

• Perform the work publicly if it is a literary, musical, dramatic, or choreographic work; a pantomime; or a motion picture or other audiovisual work.
• Display the work publicly if it is a literary, musical, dramatic, or choreographic work; a pantomime; or a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work.
• Perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission if the work is a sound recording.

Duration of Copyright Protection

• Works created on or after January 1978 have a copyright term of life of the author plus seventy years after the author’s death.
• For works made for hire and anonymous or pseudonymous works, copyright protection is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.
• Works created before 1978 have a different timeframe.

Creativity and Protection

• To be creative, a work must have a “spark” and “modicum” of creativity.
• Certain things are not creative, such as titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; and mere listings of ingredients or contents.
• Copyright protects expression, but not ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, or discoveries.

Fixed Works

• A work is fixed when it is captured in a sufficiently permanent medium such that the work can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated for more than a short time.

Copyright Ownership

• Everyone is a copyright owner once they create an original work and fix it.
• Companies, organizations, and other people can also be copyright owners through “works made for hire,” contracts, or other transfers.

Video and Audio Production

• A video montage is a compilation of video clips and photos placed in a sequence to create a memorable video.
• A video transition is a post-production technique used to connect one shot to another.
• Audio mixing is the process of combining multiple sounds into one or more audio channels.
• A sound effect is an artificially created or enhanced sound used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media.