Copyright

Synonyms:
See also:	Legal Analysis, Intellectual Property, Fair Use, DMCA, Cease & Desist, Creative Commons, Piracy
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Copyright is a term that refers to the set of exclusive rights granted to a creator of an original work.

Copyright applies to a wide variety of creative works including literary works, film, musical works, artistic works and many other kinds of Intellectual Property. Copyright holders (the original creator and their heirs) may sell or license certain rights, thereby authorizing others to broadcast or distribute a work. Copyright applies to the expression of an idea, never the idea itself.

Copyright is time-limited, by varying lengths depending on the type of work and the jurisdiction. Once the copyright has expired, a work is considered to be part of the Public Domain. The U.S. copyright laws require twenty years to pass for every one year of copyrighted work to enter public domain, so that in 2019, works created in 1923 will be released. The last such mass expiration of copyright in the U.S., allowing works from 1922, was in 1998. Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the Authors Guild, is quoted as saying, "There comes a point when a creative work belongs to history as much as to its author and her heirs." Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, points out that the bizarre law means that "the 20th century is largely missing from the internet."

Copyright also varies from country to country - something that is Public Domain in one country may not be in another.

Fans on Copyright

For more information about fanworks and how copyright affects them, see Legal Analysis. The Organization for Transformative Works also have more information. Fanvids are also affected by the DMCA if they need to rip from DVD.

Fans have traditionally suffered from Cease & Desist notices. A more recent development has been Creative Commons licenses which support remixing and fanworks. Some professional authors have different fanfic policies, though these may vary in their legal effect.

Some Random Fannish Reaction

• "Note to contributors: the copyright symbol with your name and date copyrights your work in your name. I don't bother to register copyrights; If you want to, get a Bowker Handbook from the library and go to it."

Further Reading/Meta

See Timeline of Fanwork Copyright and Legality Meta.

• Copyright: Can Fan Writing be Afforded Protection as "Literature?" (1981)

• 10 Big Myths about copyright explained, ^{Archived version} ("An attempt to answer common myths about copyright seen on the net and cover issues related to copyright and USENET/Internet publication.") by Brad Templeton (1998?)
• What is Fair Use? (1998 X-Files discussion) (1998)
• Fan Fiction and Copyright by Judith Gran (1999)
• Copyright, by spike (June 24, 1999)
• OHNONONONONONONONONO!!!!, fan discussion at alt.tv.x-files.creative (January 2000)
• Copy Catfight: How intellectual property laws stifle popular culture (March 2000)
• Is Fan Fiction Legal? by Michela Ecks (2000)
• Fan Fiction, Novels, Copyright, and Ethics (November 2001)
• How The Internet Can Save Us, And Why It Won't Last by by Mie Tsukikoushi (2001)
• Fan Fiction is Protected by Copyright Law! (perhaps 2001)
• Friction over Fan Fiction: Is this Burgeoning Art Form Legal? (2008)
• Culture of the Future: Adapting Copyright Law to Accommodate Fan-Made Derivative Works in the Twenty-First Century (December 2011)
• Fans, Copyright, and Marketing by Hell's Half Acre (2011)
• Creativity in Common: Fandom and the Ownership of Ideas (2011 or 2012?)
• FFA: Fic-tipping, archive link (2016)
• 10 Copyright Cases Every Fan Fiction Writer Should Know About, ^{Archived version} by David Kluft (2016)
• Okay, some fandom history, why show writers and authors say "for legal reasons" they can't read fan fic. (May 2017)