This presentation was made for the Creative Commons Educator Certificate course.

1. THE BASICS OF
COPYRIGHT LAW
https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#mywork
The Basics of Copyright Law © 2023 by John Acosta is licensed under Attribution 4.0
International

2. AGENDA
The purpose of copyright
What is copyrightable and what is not?
The relationship between copyright and other methods of
protecting intellectual property
How a person generally receives copyright protection for their
work
The public domain
Exceptions and limitations to copyright
2
The Basics of Copyright Law
https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/2-1-copyright-basics/

3. THE PURPOSE OF
COPYRIGHT
Copyright is an important area of law, one that reaches
into nearly every facet of our lives, whether we know it
or not.
3
The Basics of Copyright Law
https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/2-1-copyright-basics/

4. WHAT IS COPYRIGHTABLE AND WHAT IS
NOT?
Copyrightable
Literary works
Musical works
Artistic works or works of visual art
Dramatic works
Cinematographic works (including audiovisual
works)
Translations, adaptations, arrangements of literary
and artistic works
Collections of literary and artistic works,
Databases
Computer software
Not Copyrightable
Works that have not been fixed in a tangible medium of
expression (that is, not written, recorded or captured
electronically)
Titles, names, short phrases and slogans; familiar symbols or
designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering
or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents
Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts,
principles, discoveries or devices, as distinguished from a
description, explanation or illustration
Works consisting entirely of information that are natural or self-
evident facts, containing no original authorship, such as the white
pages of telephone books, standard calendars, height and weight
charts, and tape measures and rulers.
Works created by the U.S. Government
Works for which copyright has expired; works in the public domain
4
The Basics of Copyright Law
https://www.copyright.com/learn/what-isnt-protected-copyright/
https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/2-1-copyright-basics/

5. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COPYRIGHT AND
OTHER METHODS OF PROTECTING INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
Copyright Trademark Industrial Design Patent
Public Domain
McDonald's
CC BY-SA 3.0
VW Beetle
Fair Use
Towle, DC
Comics, Inc., a
Warner Bros.
Subsidiary​
CC BY-SA 4.0
Ford
5
The Basics of Copyright Law

6. HOW A PERSON GENERALLY
RECEIVES COPYRIGHT
PROTECTION FOR THEIR WORK
6
The Basics of Copyright Law
https://creativecommons.org/faq/#do-creative-commons-licenses-affect-exceptions-and-limitations-to-copyright-such-as-fair-dealing-and-fair-use
https://creativecommons.org/faq/#what-is-copyright-and-why-does-it-matter

7. THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Publication
The Jazz Singer
(first screened for
audiences in
1927)
Copyright
Extension Act
1976 (Television,
motion pictures,
sound recordings,
and radio were
cited as examples
as new forms of
creative
expression.
Library of
Congress
1996, selected for
Preservation by
the National Film
Registry as being
“culturally,
historically, or
aesthetically
significant”
Copyright
Extension Act
1998 (95 years
from publication)
Public Domain
2023 (95 years
from its release)
7
The Basics of Copyright Law
Public Domain

8. EXCEPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS TO
COPYRIGHT
Fair Use, Fair Dealing and
The Right to Quote
Scholarship
Criticism
Three-Step Clause
The use of copyrighted content:
1. Isn’t overly broad
2. Doesn’t conflict with normal exploitation
3. Doesn’t unreasonably prejudice
legitimate interests of the author
8
The Basics of Copyright Law
https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/2-4-exceptions-and-limitations-to-copyright/
https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/three-step_test_fnl.pdf

9. SUMMARY
Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is
created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible
either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.
Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it
is permissible to use limited portions of a work including
quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news
reporting, and scholarly reports.
9
The Basics of Copyright Law
https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html
https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#mywork

10. THANK YOU
John Acosta
John.Acosta@kbcc.cuny.edu
The Basics of Copyright Law 10
The Basics of Copyright Law © 2023 by John Acosta is licensed under Attribution 4.0
International