New developments of copy right law

Intellectual Property Rights
Presented by
Dr. B.Rajalingam
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
Priyadarshini College of Engineering & Technology, Nellore
Unit 5
New Developments of Copy Right Law

Syllabus
• New Developments of Intellectual Property
– Trade Mark Law
– Copy Right Law
– Patent Law
– Trade Secrets Law
• International Overview on Intellectual Property
– Trade Mark Law
– Copy Right Law
– Patent Law
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam29 October 2020 2

New Developments of Copy Right Law
1. Copyright protection for computer programs
2. Copyright protection for automated databases
3. Copyright in the electronic age
4. The digital millennium copyright act
5. Entertainment notes
6. Recent developments in copyright law

1. Copyright protection for computer
programs
a) Protectable Elements of Computer Programs
b) Deposit Requirements for Computer Programs
c) Notice of Copyright
d) Video Games
e) Revisions and Modifications to Computer Programs
f) Infringement of Computer Programs
g) Licensing of Computer Programs
h) Piracy of Software

a) Protectable Elements of Computer
Programs
• Computer programs have been accepted for copyright registration since the mid-
1960s.
• In 1980, Congress followed the recommendations of the Commission on New
Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works and added a definition in the Copyright
Act for the term computer program.
• According to Section 101 of the Copyright Act, a computer program is a set of
statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer.
• Copyright protection extends to all of the copyrightable expression embodied in the
program.
• Copyright protection is not available for ideas, program logic, algorithms, systems,
methods, concepts, or layouts.

b) Deposit Requirements for Computer
Programs• For published or unpublished computer programs, the first 25 and last 25 pages of
source code should be submitted in a form visually perceptible without the aid of a
machine or a device.
• If the program is less than 50 pages in length, all of the source code should be
deposited.
• When filing the application electronically, the source code may be uploaded
electronically.
• Because computer programs often contain proprietary information and trade
secrets, the Copyright Office has developed alternative deposit requirements for
such works.
• Where a computer program contains trade secret material, a cover letter should
accompany the application, stating that the claim contains trade secrets and the
applicant may then comply with alternative deposit requirements.New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam29 October 2020 6

c) Notice of Copyright
• A notice with or near the title or at the end of the work, on visually perceptible
printouts.
• A notice that is displayed at the user’s screen or terminal at sign-on.
• A notice that is continuously on the screen or terminal display.
• A legible notice on a label securely affixed to the copies or to a box, reel, cartridge,
cassette, or other container used as a permanent receptacle for the copies.

d) Video Games
• Although the ideas underlying some video games are not copyrightable, certain
elements of video games, such as a sequence of sounds and images, are
copyrightable as audiovisual works apart from the underlying computer program.
• Some infringers alleged early on that video games were not copyrightable
inasmuch as player participation causes variations in games and different
outcomes, and thus the works are not “fixed,” but courts have held that many of the
game elements remain constant and that the memory devices of games satisfy the
requirement of fixation.

e) Revisions and Modifications to Computer
Programs
 Computer programs are frequently updated and revised by their authors, generally to
provide additional features to users.
 Substantive revisions will result in a new work for which a new copyright
registration should be sought.
 Copyright owners have the exclusive right under Section 106 of the Copyright Act
to reproduce their works and to prepare derivative works based on their copyrighted
works.
 Section 117 of the Act, relating exclusively to computer programs, limits these
exclusive rights by allowing a backup or archival copy to be made and allowing
some modifications of programs for an owner’s own use, such as improving the
program or increasing its speed of performance.

f) Infringement of Computer Programs
• Some of the most complex copyright cases involve the extent of protectability for
computer programs.
• Numerous litigants have asserted that computer operating systems are not
protectable inasmuch as they are un copyrightable “processes” or “systems,”
expressly excluded from protection according to Section 102 of the Copyright Act.
• Courts generally have held otherwise, reasoning that if other programs can be
written or created that perform the same functions, then an operating system is an
expression of an idea and is therefore copyrightable.

g) Licensing of Computer Programs
• Due to the ease of copying computer programs (allowing numerous users to share
one purchased program) and due to the first sale doctrine (allowing the
owner/purchaser of a copy to sell or rent it to others), makers of software programs
became concerned over piracy and potential loss of revenues.
• To remedy the problem, they implemented the practice of licensing their programs.
• Software purchased over the counter is thus not typically “sold” by the maker but
rather “licensed” by the maker to the user/purchaser.
• Such a license is often called a shrink-wrap license because opening the plastic
wrapping on the package immediately subjects the user/purchaser to the terms of the
license agreement

h) Piracy of Software
• In addition to the complex legal issues surrounding protection and infringement of computer-
related works, there are significant economic issues as well.
• The Business Software Association has estimated that software piracy caused a loss of
revenue of nearly $9.5 billion in 2010 in the United States alone.
• One expert has estimated that there may be nearly 50,000 sites on the Internet that offer
software illegally.
• Just the day after the film Titanic won several Oscar awards, 50 separate websites offered
illegal copies of the film.
• One of the most common types of software piracy is softlifting, or making unauthorized
copies of a licensed software program.
• According to the Institute for Policy Innovation, the economic effect of computer piracy in
the United States alone is reportedly more than $58 billion per year, costing 350,000 jobs.
• Consequently, many companies, notably Microsoft Corporation, are stepping up their
crusades against software piracy, both through educational programs and legal action.

2. Copyright protection for automated
databases
• According to the Copyright Office, an automated database is a body of facts, data, or
other information assembled into an organized format suitable for use in a computer
and comprising one or more files.
• An automated database is a compilation because it is formed by collecting and
assembling preexisting materials or data.
• Although there is no specific reference to automated databases anywhere in the
Copyright Act, they are viewed as types of literary works subject to copyright
protection.
• Automated databases will not receive protection if there is no original authorship in
the selection and ordering of the data, such as is the case in merely transferring data
from hardcopy to computer storage.

3. Copyright in the electronic age
• The rights of authors and creators to protect their works and reap the benefits of
their creations must be balanced against the right of the public to have access to
information.
• Nowhere is that tension more pronounced than in the discussion of copyright in
cyberspace.
• It is amazingly easy to make electronic copies of works and then transmit those
works to others using digital media.
• Using our computers, we are capable of retrieving, storing, revising, and
disseminating vast amounts of information created by others with a single keystroke.
• There are few mechanical or economic restrictions precluding or restricting the free
flow of information in cyberspace.

4. The digital millennium copyright act
• Copyright Act (DMCA), to move the nation’s copyright law into the digital age.
• Because piracy of digital content is so easily accomplished, Congress sought to
expand copyright protection for digital works by ensuring that copyright protection
tools could not be circumvented.
• Additionally, the DMCA sought to update U.S. copyright law to prepare for
ratification of various WIPO treaties.
• Some experts have stated that the DMCA represents the most comprehensive
copyright reform in a generation.

Issues Arising under the DMCA
• DeCSS technology. DeCSS is a software program created by a 15-year-old
computer hacker that enables users to descramble the encryption code that prohibits
the copying of DVDs.
• First Amendment issues. In 2001, a university professor at Princeton University
planned to publish a paper explaining methods he had used to defeat certain DRM
schemes, and was threatened with litigation under the DMCA.
• Online service providers and the DMCA’s “safe harbor.” In 2000, a San
Francisco court held that the online service provider eBay was not liable for
auctioning sound recordings on its Internet website that might infringe copyrights of
others.
• Webcasts. The DMCA requires radio stations to pay royalties to music performers
when broadcasts or webcasts are transmitted over the Internet, a practice called
streaming.

5. Entertainment notes
 Napster and MyMP3.com
 The Grokster Case
 Litigation Efforts to Stop Piracy and the Copyright Alert System
 Legislative and Prosecutorial Efforts to Stop Piracy

6. Recent developments in copyright law
 Fashion protection.
 Legal documents.
 Orphan works.
 Ringtones.
 Print piracy.
 Unlawful streaming.
 Rights of freelancers.
 Scraping.
 Google books settlement.

Thank You

New developments of copy right law

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