Copyright law provides limited exclusive rights to authors and artists for their creative works. A copyright exists in original works like books, music, art and more. Works are protected for the life of the author plus 70 years. The public domain includes works where the copyright has expired or the author has dedicated the work. Fair use allows limited use of copyrighted works for purposes like commentary without permission. When creating new works, all included content must be properly licensed or in the public domain to avoid infringement.

1. Copyright
CO 107 - Intro to Radio

2. What is Copyright?
A copyright is a “limited duration monopoly”
provided by the U.S. Constitution to authors,
inventors, and other creative individuals.
Copyright law is written to encourage the
growth of knowledge by giving authors and
artists limited time exclusive rights to use and
profit from their creations.

3. What is Copyright?
If a song or book or anything else is under
copyright protection, you cannot use it without
the author's permission. Usually a music
copyright owner will charge fees called
"royalties" in exchange for permission to use
music.

4. Public Domain
A work is in the public domain when...
1. The copyright term has expired or if
copyright protection for that work was not
maintained in the manner required prior to
1989. In the US, as a general rule, the
copyright term will only have expired in
relation works published before 1923.

5. Public Domain
2. The work is an unpublished work and special
rules indicate it has fallen into the public
domain. Some unpublished works, such as
non-published academic papers found
online, are in the public domain.

6. Public Domain
3. The author or copyright owner dedicated the
work to the public domain. If the author of a
work has labeled his/her work as being in
the public domain, it’s fair game.

7. Public Domain
You can use any work that is in the public
domain without obtaining permission of the
original author or copyright owner.

8. Sound Recordings
The Copyright Act of 1976 created a copyright
category called Sound Recordings that now
provides federal copyright protection for CD's,
MP3's, WAV files, records, and other music
recordings made after February 15, 1972. These
Sound Recordings receive copyright protection
for 70 years after the death of the last surviving
author.

9. Sound Recordings
But the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Sonny
Bono Copyright Extension Act left copyright
protection for sound recordings fixed or
published before February 15, 1972,
remaining under state law until 2067.
The Earliest that Copyright Protection will
Expire for any Sound Recording in the USA is
2067

10. Sound Recordings
Remember that a musical work and a sound
recording of a musical work have separate
copyright protection. The children's song,
"Mary Had A Little Lamb" is absolutely in the
public domain worldwide, and it can be freely
used by anyone.

11. Sound Recordings
However, in the USA, no sound recordings of
"Mary Had A Little Lamb" are in the public
domain. If you want to use any sound
recording - even a sound recording of a
public domain song - you must either
license a recording or create your own
recording.

12. Music vs. Recording
A Musical Work and a Sound Recording of
a Musical Work have separate and extremely
different copyright protection.

13. Fair Use
Section 107 contains a list of the various
purposes for which the reproduction of a
particular work may be considered “fair,” such
as criticism, comment, news reporting,
teaching, scholarship, and research.

14. Fair Use
Fair Use is subject to broad interpretations.
Although "commentary and news reporting" is
pretty clear "educational and other uses" is not.
Many infringements and lawsuits occur when
this portion of the law is interpreted too
broadly. As a user, it's always best to ask
permission or pay the fee.

15. Fair Use Misconceptions
1. Acknowledgement is not enough! Some
authors have the wrongful belief that an
acknowledgement will turn a copyright
infringement into “fair use.” This is a myth.

16. Fair Use Misconceptions
2. Disclaimers Are Not Enough Either. Another
point of confusion is whether an upfront
disclaimer that denies any association
between the work and the copyrighted
material can protect someone from liability.

17. Creative Commons License
If an author or copyright owner has labeled
their work with a Creative Commons license ,
then the work is automatically in the public
domain. Creative Commons is a great site to
find materials that you can use either without
any attribution, or with some attribution,
depending on the nature of the license granted.

18. ID-ing CC Material
A human-readable statement that a piece of
content is licensed under a Creative Commons
license:
“This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution 2.5 license
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/.
&rdquo”

19. Or some of these buttons:

20. What if I Accidently Use It?
You would probably receive a “cease and desist”
letter from the copyright holder advising that
you have infringed on his copyright. You would
them present your public domain research
findings and attempt to reach an amicable
agreement with the copyright holder.

21. What if I Accidently Use It
If you had done your research properly and had
good reason to believe you had a legal right to
use the music, hopefully the copyright holder
would accept the most reasonable royalties
possible for the use you made of his song.

22. What if I Accidently Use It
However, making an honest error in no way
protects you from paying royalties. After you
have already used the song, you are dependent
on the copyright holder's mercy when royalties
are assessed. If there is any doubt about rights
to a song, you should always obtain clearance
through an attorney or rights clearance
organization prior to any usage.

23. Creating Your Own Audio
When creating audio, it is important to make
sure all necessary rights/permissions are
secured for included material. This is relatively
easy if you create all of the material, but can
become progressively more complex the more
you include material created by other people.

24. Creating Your Own Audio
If you do not obtain the necessary rights and
permissions, you may get into legal trouble for
incorporating third party material into your
audio and for also authorizing others to use
that material as part of your audio.

25. Generally...
If you have created all the material included in
your audio, you will not violate copyright law.
If you include material created by other people,
you are responsible for obtaining the necessary
rights and permissions from the copyright
owner.

26. Keep in Mind!
If audio involves recording students, guest
lecturers, community members, and so forth,
you need to have the interviewee(s) sign a
consent release form or at a minimum, record
their consent. The signed consent form from
the speaker(s) or recorded verbal consent is
required before you upload your audio.

27. Safe Music/Audio
Audio Libraries
Garageband
http://creativecommons.org
http://freemusicarchive.org