版权政策

I. 简介:什么是版权

美国宪法第17条.S. Code, 美国版权法的定义是什么, begins with the premise that copyright owners have exclusive rights to reproduce, 分发, 制作衍生作品, 并公开展示或表演他们的作品. Only the owner of the copyright may grant, trade, lend, or sell these rights. The Copyright Act also defines, 然而, several important exceptions to the owner's rights. The best known and most important of these exceptions is the fair-use doctrine that allows others to copy a work under certain circumstances without seeking the copyright owner's permission; individual statutory provisions also make specific allowance for such other purposes as distance learning, 软件备份副本, 还有一些图书馆的复制品.

在过去的10到20年里, copyright law has enjoyed heightened public attention and become more contentious as duplicating works, 无论是模拟方式还是数字方式, 变得越来越容易了, as technologies have developed that allow copyright holders to assert their rights more vigorously, 随着各种各样的“信息”变得越来越商品化. Recent changes to copyright law have been motivated particularly by copyright holders in conglomerated, international media companies as they have sought to protect their interests and increase their revenues.

A. 什么是受版权保护

版权保护作者的原创作品, 有形表现形式, 无论是小说还是诗歌, 手稿的信, 报告, 乐曲, 戏剧或舞蹈作品, 绘画, 照片, 演讲, 雕塑, video, 建筑工作, 计算机软件, 等. Note that ideas and factual information are not protected by copyright (they may be protected by patents or trademarks), nor are any pre-existing materials that have been incorporated in the copyrighted work protected. 因此, 一个人可以获得图表的版权, but not the FACTS in a chart; in an anthology of Goethe, 一个人可以获得翻译的版权, 介绍, 故事选择, and layout but not the works of Goethe themselves because they are now in the public domain.

虽然版权可以注册, any creative work appearing in the US as of 3/1/1989 is copyrighted even if it does not include a copyright notice. 不符合版权保护条件的项目，美国.S. 联邦政府出版物, 1923年以前出版的作品, 或1978年以前出版的没有版权声明的作品, 是否属于公共领域, 禁止任何其他法律限制, 可以自由复制.

B. 版权期限

作品的版权在一定时间后到期, 这取决于它第一次向公众展示的时间, 注册, 或者以“有形的形式”存在.1978年以后出版的作品的版权, 例如, 是否有效期为版权所有人的一生加上70年. Copyright may be renewed under certain conditions; the Copyright OfficeCircular 15 discusses those conditions.

II. 对著作权人权利的限制

著作权人的权利不是绝对的, for copyright law defines exceptions under which copyrighted works may be reproduced without permission of the owner. 在某些豁免和"合理使用"原则下, 在某些情况下，受版权保护的材料可能会被复制, 尤其是对个人而言, 库, 以及教育机构.

A. 三项法定豁免

1. 教室使用

教育 institutions and governmental agencies are authorized to publicly display and perform others' works in the course of face-to-face teaching activities, 在一定程度上, 在广播. Note that this exemption to copyright applies only to the use of legally acquired copies of a work. 这一例外允许阅读诗歌和戏剧, 看商业片, 或者在课堂上听音乐.

2. 图书馆内的复制

The copyright statute describes a limitation to copyright 这是 used frequently in academic institutions. It is not an infringement of copyright when 库 (or their users) make single copies of certain copyrighted works (excluding musical works, 图形, 绘画或雕塑作品, 电影或其他音像作品, except audiovisuals dealing with the news) provided that: only individual articles or small portions of a larger work are copied; the copies become the property of the patron; the copies are used for private study, scholarship or research; the copying is not done for commercial advantage; and the library displays prominently a notice warning of copyright restrictions in accord with requirements published by the US Copyright Office. Libraries may make copies of entire works (or substantial pieces of a work) if the work cannot be obtained after a reasonable search and at a reasonable price. It is under this exemption and the fair-use doctrine that 库 may copy and place materials on course reserve.

3. 美国以外的工作

No "international copyright" automatically protects an author's works throughout the world. 在某一特定国家防止未经授权使用的保护措施, 因此, 这取决于那个国家的法律. 然而, most countries offer protection to foreign works under conditions that have been greatly simplified by international copyright treaties and conventions. 根据经验, 是否该作品将作为美国国内作品受到保护, it is protected as a foreign work; in cases where foreign copyright codes are more restrictive than the US code, 然而, the work may still be protected even though in the US it would be in the public domain.

B. 合理使用

法律规定了合理使用要求的四个检验标准, 这是, a use of someone else's copyrighted work without asking their permission, 必须满足:

• 使用目的
• 工作的性质
• 使用的功的量
• 市场使用效果

法律没有明确规定, 定量, direct answers about the scope of fair-use and its application in specific situations. 而不是, a potential user must consider the four factors in each and every case of potential use and reach responsible conclusions about the lawfulness of the use. 理性的人对合理使用的适用性会有很大的不同, but any reliable evaluation depends upon an analysis of these four factors.

In making a judgment of fair use, the four factors need not lean in one direction. 如果大多数因素倾向于合理使用, the activity is allowed; if most lean the opposite direction, the use will not fit the fair-use exception and may require permission from the copyright owner. 教育, non-commercial uses are generally favored over commercial uses of copyrighted works, but copying for educational purposes does not automatically make the use fair. The Copyright Management Center at Indiana University provides a web form for weighing the four factors.

一些法庭案件有助于检验合理使用的界限, and agreements between copyright owners and organizations representing users of copyrighted materials have published guidelines that flesh out what is "fair" about fair use. 请注意, 然而, 这样的指导方针, 虽然确实有用, 没有法律地位, 很多人会同意这一点, like the "no reproduction under any circumstances" statement on the verso of most books' title page, 它们对教育机构的限制太大了.