Page 347 - Law and the Media

Law and the Media
21.3.3 Domicile and nationality

Unpublished works
Copyright protection is available for all unpublished works, regardless of the domicile or
nationality of the author.

Published works
Copyright protection can be secured for published works if the author is a national or resident
of the United States or a national or resident of a country that is a party to an international
treaty.

The United States grants authors from other jurisdictions reciprocal protection of copyright
as a result of its ratification of the two main international treaties on copyright, the Berne
Convention as amended by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Treaty
1996 in respect of new information and communication technologies and the Universal
Copyright Convention. The WIPO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that has
taken a leading role in developing global policy and co-ordinates and administers
international treaties relating to intellectual property protection.

21.3.4 Notice and registration
It is not necessary to place a notice on or register an original work in order to obtain
copyright protection. Copyright is secured automatically as soon as a work is expressed in
a ‘tangible’ form, in other words written down or recorded. Although notice was a
requirement under the Copyright Act 1976 it was abolished when the United States became
a signatory in 1989 to the Berne Convention.

However, it is prudent to place a notice on a work and register with the Copyright Office at
the Library of Congress in Washington. Use of a notice and registration informs the public
that the work is protected by copyright, identifies the copyright author and ensures that
copyright infringers cannot claim to be ignorant of the existence of copyright in the work.
The formula ©, the name of the copyright owner and date of first publication should be
placed on the work. In addition, registration is necessary for works of United States origin
before proceedings for infringement may be filed in court.

21.3.5 Duration

Works created on or after 1 January 1978
Works expressed in tangible form on or after 1 January 1978 are protected from the moment
of creation for the author’s life plus 70 years.

Works created before 1 January 1 1978
The duration of protection for works created before 1 January 1978 is dependent on whether
the work was published and registered.
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