This workshop provides a detailed introduction to U.S. copyright law. Through a combination of prerecorded videos, small group discussion, full group discussion, and short breaks, you will learn to apply copyright law to scenarios like those that come up at Penn State, including research- and course-related uses. This workshop will go into additional detail on the topics covered in the Copyright in One Hour workshop (copyrightability, the public domain, and fair use). It will also cover additional topics, including how courts determine whether one work counts as a copy of an earlier work, who counts as the author of a copyrighted work (including jointly authored works and works made for hire), and how copyrights are licensed or transferred. This workshop is recommended for participants who want to bring together previous copyright training into a holistic understanding of U.S. copyright law.
Introduction to Copyright: What Copyright Covers (part 1 of 4)
The following resources relate to this video:
- Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution from the National Archives: Clause 8 is the Copyright Clause.
- Feist v. Rural from the Oyez Project: Feist is the Supreme Court case about the white pages of a phone book, which laid out the law of copyrightability.
- Chapter 300, Copyrightable Authorship, of The Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices: Page 13 of this chapter gives the example of copyrightable compilation consisting of a list of the author’s favorite restaurants.
- 17 U.S. Code § 102 – Subject matter of copyright: In general: Section 102(a) gives us the originality and fixation requirements. 102(b) is the list of items that are not copyrightable.
- 17 U.S. Code § 105 – Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works: Section 105 is what excludes nearly all works of the federal government from U.S. copyright.
- Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States: This chart from Cornell summarizes U.S. law pertaining to public domain status.
- Is it in the Public Domain?: This handbook from Berkeley gives definitions and examples related to public domain status.
Introduction to Copyright: Rights of Copyright Holders (part 2 of 4)
The following resources relate to this video:
- 17 U.S. Code § 106 – Exclusive rights in copyrighted works: This is the section of the U.S. Copyright Act that lays out the rights of copyright holders.
- Substantial Similarity guide: This guide from the University of Michigan Library summarizes a number of copyright cases on the topic of substantial similarity.
- The End of Ownership, by Aaron Perzanowski and Jason Schultz: This book addressing digital first sale and related issues is available open access on the MIT Press website. Chapter 3 addresses the digital first sale issues mentioned briefly in this video.
- 17 U.S. Code § 101 – Definitions: The definitions section of the U.S. Copyright Act defines many terms relevant to this video, including “perform,” “display,” and “publicly.”
Introduction to Copyright: Rights of Users (part 3 of 4)
The following resources relate to this video:
- Jessica Litman, The Exclusive Right to Read: Throughout her career, Professor Jessica Litman has emphasized the rights of copyright users, and the framing of this video comes from her work. “The Exclusive Right to Read” is a good place to start with the concept of user’s rights.
- 17 U.S. Code § 107 – Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use: This is the section of the U.S. Copyright Act on fair use.
- Fair Use from the Office of Scholarly Communications and Copyright: This is the fair use page on our website.
- Campbell v. Acuff-Rose from the Oyez Project: Campbell is the Supreme Court case involving 2 Live Crew and Roy Orbison.
- Pierre Leval, Toward a Fair Use Standard: This is Judge Leval’s 1990 article on transformative use.
- Henry Louis Gates, 2 Live Crew, Decoded (copy from Penn State University Libraries for authenticated users) (copy on NY Times website, paywall possible): This is Professor Gates’s New York Times Op Ed about 2 Live Crew’s music. It is similar to the testimony he offered at their trial for obscenity.
- Kimberlé Crenshaw, Beyond Racism and Misogyny: Black Feminism and 2 Live Crew: In this piece in the Boston Review, Professor Crenshaw responds to Professor Gates and to 2 Live Crew’s work.
- Harper and Row v. Nation, from the Oyez Project: Harper and Row is the Supreme Court case involving publication of an excerpt from President Ford’s autobiography.
Introduction to Copyright: Permission and Who Can Grant It (part 4 of 4)
The following resources relate to this video:
- Obtaining Copyright Permissions: The guide from the University of Michigan Library can help you navigate fragmented copyrights, as well as the general copyright permission process.
- Works Made for Hire: This circular from the U.S. Copyright Office gives more information about when a work is considered a work made for hire.
- IP01 Ownership and Management of Intellectual Property: This Penn State policy governs copyright ownership at the university.
- Creative Commons Licenses from the Office of Scholarly Communications and Copyright: This is the Creative Commons licenses page on our website. It includes description of each license term.
- Best Practices for Attribution: This page from the Creative Commons Wiki gives examples of how to fulfill the attribution requirement of Creative Commons licenses.
