Things
you have to know
about
copyrights

By S. “Alex” Perez Lebron©
Copyright 2006
All Rights Reserved

Introduction

• Think you know about
copyrights?
• About the use of
copyright materials?
• About almost
everything created
privately and originally?
• This quiz will test your
knowledge and perhaps
teach you something
new!

Before You Begin:
Name: Date:

• You will need to print
Total Points: Percentage:
Certificate Code:

your Test Answering
TRAINING MODULE:

"THINGS YOU HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT COPYRIGHTS"

Sheet Number Statement Choices Your
Answer
Reviewed
Y/ N

1 "If it doesn't have a T/ F
copyright notice, it's not
copyrighted."

PRINT 2 The correct form for a
notice is:
a, b, c, d,
or e

3 "If I don't charge for it, T/ F
it's not a violation."
4 "If it's posted to Usenet T/ F
it's in the public domain."

• Write Your Name and 5 "If you don't defend your
copyright you lose it." --
T/ F

Today’s Date
"Somebody has that
name copyrighted!"
6 "If I make up my own T/ F

• The Results and the
stories, but base them on
another work, my new
work belongs to me."

Certificate Code will be 7 "They can't get me,
defendants in court have
T/ F

provided by the 8
powerful rights!"
"Oh, so copyright T/ F

Moderator
violation isn't a crime or
anything?"
9 "It doesn't hurt anybody - T/ F
- in fact it's free
advertising."

Directions:
• Read each statement or question carefully
• Don’t guess
• To the best of your knowledge, select your answer as
True or False, Or choose from the choices given
• Use the glossary if you need to clarify the meaning of the
terms used in this module
• Write your answer on the test sheet before you proceed
• If you don’t get the answer correct, Read the Facts
before you move on to the next statement
• After you finish the session turn in your test answering
sheet to the moderator to be score

Good luck!

Evaluation Criteria:

• The evaluation consists of
completing the module with a
minimum of nine (9) out of
eleven (11) answers correct.

Glossary
• Copyright  it is the legal exclusive right of the author
of a creative work to control the copying and usage of
that work.
• Copyright Law  has two main purposes, namely the
protection of the author's right to obtain commercial
benefit from valuable work, and more recently the
protection of the author's general right to control how a
work is used.
• Explicit  you have a note from the author/owner
saying, "I grant this to the public domain." With those
exact words or words very much like them.
• License  a permit, an authorization, a privilege or a
right.
• Implicit  implied, unspoken, unreserved, absolute,
total, complete or unconditional
• Explicit  open, clear, plain, unambiguous,
unequivocal, exact or specific.

Glossary continued

• Granting something to the Public Domain (PD)
is a complete abandonment of all rights.
• "PD for non-commercial use"  If the work is PD,
other people can even modify one byte and put their
name on it.
• "fair use" or "fair dealing"  allow things such as
commentary, parody (fun), news reporting, research
and education about copyrighted works without the
permission of the author. Is generally a short excerpt
and almost always attributed. It should not harm the
commercial value of the work.
• Trademark  A term used to refer to a brand of a
generic type of product or service.

Statement One:

"If it doesn't have a copyright notice,
then it's not copyrighted."

• True, before April 1, 1989
• False, after April 1, 1989

You’re Right!

Go to next statement

Facts:

• This was true before April 1, 1989.
• Today almost all major nations follow the Berne
copyright convention.
• In the USA, almost everything created privately
and originally after April 1, 1989 is copyrighted
and protected whether it has a notice or not.
• It’s good practice to assume that other people's
works are copyrighted and may not be copied
unless they have authorized you in writing.
• Some old works lost their protection without
notice, but you should not risk it unless you know
for sure.

The correct form for a notice is:

a) "Copyright [dates] by [author/owner]"
b) “Author/Owner, [date (s)] Copyright”
c) “© Author/Owner”
d) "All Rights Reserved"
e) “Author/Owner ©”

Facts:
The correct form for a notice is:

"Copyright [dates] by [author/owner]"

Example: Copyright 2006 by Alexandro Lebron

– You can use C in a circle © instead of "Copyright"
but "(C)" has never been given legal force.
– The phrase "All Rights Reserved" used to be
required in some nations but is now not legally
needed in most places.
– In some countries it may help preserve some of the
"moral rights."

Statement Two:

"If I don't get paid or
charge money for the material,
it's not a violation."

• True
• False

Sorry.
Read more about it
and
Try Again.

Facts:
• Whether you charge or not, can affect the damages
awarded in court, but that's the main difference under the
law.
• It's still a violation if you give it away and there can still be
serious damages if you hurt the commercial value of the
property.
• If the work has no commercial value, the violation is
mostly technical and is unlikely to result in legal action.
• “Fair use” determinations do sometimes depend on the
involvement of money.

Note:
There is an exception for personal copying of music, which
is not a violation, though courts seem to have said that
doesn't include wide scale anonymous personal copying
as people do with Napster.

Statement Three:

"If it's posted at “Usenet”,
It means that's in the public domain."

• True
• False

Facts:
• Posting suggests implicitly granting permissions "for
the sort of copying one might expect when one posts
to Usenet" and in no case is this a placement of
material into the Public Domain.
• Remember that when it comes to the law, computers
never make copies, only human beings do.
• Nothing modern and creative is in the public domain
anymore unless the owner explicitly puts it in the
public domain.
• It is very difficult for an implicit license to supersede
an explicitly stated license.
• Note that granting something to the public domain is
a complete abandonment of all rights.

Statement Four:

“I could always claim that
my posting was just fair use!"

• True
• False

Facts:
• TRUE: If your posting was made as a commentary,
a parody (to make fun of), as a news report, for
research and/or education.
• Remember that the Copyright Law doesn't block
your freedom to express your own works but only
your ability to appropriate other people's.
• “Fair use” is generally a short excerpt and almost
always attributed. (One should not use much more
of the work than is needed to make the
commentary.)
• It should not harm the commercial value of the work
-- in the sense of people no longer needing to buy it.
• The court decides if the right to comment overrides
the copyright on an individual basis in each case.
• Facts and ideas can't be copyrighted, but their
expression and structure can. You can always write
the facts in your own words though.

Statement Five:

"If you don't defend your copyright
you lose it."
-- "Somebody has that name copyrighted!"

• True
• False

Facts:

• Copyright is never lost, unless explicitly
given away.
• You can't "copyright” a name, almost all
titles or general language expressions.

Statement Six:

"If I make a story
base on someone else's work,
my new work belongs to me."

• True
• False

Facts:
• U.S. Copyright law is quite explicit. The making of
what is called "derivative work" -- work based or
derived from another copyrighted work -- is the
exclusive province of the owner of the original work.
• If you write a story using settings or characters from
somebody else's work, you need that author's
permission.
• There is a major exception. When using criticism and
parody. The fair use provision says that if you want
to make fun of something like “Anda ‘Pal cara”, you
don't need permission from “Univisión PR” or their
respective producers.
• The way "fair use" works is you get sued for
copyright infringement, and you admit you did copy,
but that your copying was a fair use. A subjective
judgment on, among other things, your goals, is then
made.

Statement Seven:

“They will never get me”

• True
• False

Facts:

• Copyright law is mostly civil law.
• If you violate copyright law you would
usually get sued, not be charged with a
crime.
• It's mostly based on which side and set
of evidence the judge or jury accepts or
believes more, though the rules vary
based on the type of infringement.
• In civil cases you can even be made to
testify against your own interests.

Statement Eight:

“Copyright violation isn't a crime"

• True
• False

Facts:

• In the USA, commercial copyright violation
involving more than 10 copies and value
over $2,500 was made a felony. So watch
out.
• Don't think you're going to get people
thrown in jail for posting your E-mail. The
courts have much better things to do.
• Congress amended the law to cover E-
mails.

Statement Nine:

"I'm not hurting anybody,
-- it's free advertising."

• True
• False

Facts:

• The copyright owner decides if they want
free ads or not.
• Don't wonder whether it hurts the owner (s)
or not, ask them.
• In most cases you will find instructions on
how and when to use the material.
• Even if you can't think of how the author or
owner gets hurt, think about the fact that
piracy hurts everybody who wants a
chance to make a living out of their honest
work and effort.

Statement Ten:

"They e-mailed me a copy,
so I can post it."

• True
• False

Facts:

• Just because someone sent you a copy,
doesn’t make it legal for you to use it.
• All the E-mail you write is copyrighted.
• E-mails are not secret, unless previously
agreed.
• Keeping private correspondence private is
a courtesy one should honor most of the
times.

Statement 11:

“Can I ever reproduce anything?"

• True
• False

Facts:

Yes you can, if You:

1. provide a monetary reward to the author.
2. get written permission from the author to
use such materials.
3. get the material from a certified entity /
source, where is explicitly stated that
such material may be use and explain
under what circumstances.

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