Wise Startup Blog

Working on my best Stanley Kubrick right there, hopefully this will be a good guide to what you can and can’t do in regards to the DMCA. I think this information is particularly useful given the sticky legal climate we’re in right now and probably will continue to be in for the coming decades as technology advances farther than the laws written to govern it.

So to get started, first, let’s start with a simple question:

What rights are protected by copyright law?

The purpose of copyright law is to encourage creative work by granting a temporary monopoly in an author’s original creations. This monopoly takes the form of six rights in areas where the author retains exclusive control. These rights are:

(1) the right of reproduction (i.e., copying),
(2) the right to create derivative works,
(3) the right to distribution,
(4) the right to performance,
(5) the right to display, and
(6) the digital transmission performance right.

What kinds of things are copyrightable?

In order for material to be copyrightable, it must be original and must be in a fixed medium.

Do plot synopses and reproductions of photographs infringe on copyrights?

A plot synopsis may or may not infringe on a copyright, depending on whether the court finds that the use of original material is fair use. Photographs are protected by the copyright holder’s rights to both reproduce and display his work, and this right may be violated by posting those photographs on the Internet.

What is copyright infringement? Are there any defenses?

Infringement occurs whenever someone who is not the copyright holder (or a licensee of the copyright holder) exercises one of the exclusive rights listed above.

The most common defense to an infringement claim is “fair use,” a doctrine that allows people to use copyrighted material without permission in certain situations, such as quotations in a book review. To evaluate fair use of copyrighted material, the courts consider four factors:

1. the purpose and character of the use
2. the nature of the copyrighted work
3. the amount and substantiality of copying, and
4. the market effect.

Information take from ChillingEffects.org, for more information and support please visit EFF.org.