COPYRIGHT FOR

ARTISTS

Benjamin Ang visual-lawschool.blogspot.com

What is Copyright?

What are your rights?

How can we share or re-use?

Case Study

What is copyright?

What copyright protects

Copyright protects works like novels, computer programs, plays, sheet music and paintings

For a work to be protected by copyright, it has to be

original and

expressed in a tangible form such as in a recording or in writing.

Originality simply means that there is a degree of independent effort in the creation of the work.

It is not a question of whether the work has creative merit.

How copyright is created

In Singapore, an author automatically enjoys copyright protection as soon as he creates and expresses his work in a tangible form.

There is no need to file for registration to get copyright protection.

A copyright work created by a Singapore citizen or resident is protected in many countries overseas by virtue of international agreements

The use of the symbol © is simply a notice of a claim by the copyright owner that copyright exists. It does not give the copyright owner any substantive right and is therefore not crucial

Authors Works that are protected

Type Example

Literary Written works / Books

Articles in journals or newspapers

Lyrics in songs

Source codes of computer programs

Dramatic Scripts for films & drama (as applied)

Choreographic scripts for shows or dance

Musical Melody

Artistic Paintings

Drawings

Photographs

Works of artistic craftsmanship, e.g. designer furniture that is

not mass produced

Copyright Protects Literature

Copyright Protects Drama…

Copyright Protects Artistic Works

Artistic Works and Works of Artistic

Craftsmanship

Paintings

Drawings

Photographs

Regardless of

artistic value!

Must be artistic

Must have

craftsmanship

Artistic Works Artistic Craftsmanship

Is this protected?

Copyright Protects Music

Entrepreneurial works that are

protected

Type Example

Published

editions

Typographic arrangements of a published work

Sound

recordings

sounds recorded on tapes, CDs, etc

Films visual images and sounds recorded on tapes,

video compact discs, digital versatile discs

TV and radio

Broadcasts

TV and radio Broadcasts

Cable

programmes

Programmes (visual images and sound) included in a cable

programme service sent by means of a telecommunication

System

Performances By performers such as musicians, singers and comedians

Copyright Protects Recordings…

Copyright Protects Publications…

What is Not Protected by Copyright

Ideas (e.g.the );

Concepts (e.g. an idea for a new game show that has not been written down);

Discoveries (e.g. research that has not been known before);

Procedures (e.g. steps for applying for a travel visa);

Methods (e.g. the unique solution to a mathematical problem);

Subject matter that has not been made tangible in a recording or writing (e.g. a speech or a dance that has not been written or recorded); and

Subject matter which is not of original authorship (e.g. historical facts).

Is this protected?

What is Copyright?

What are your rights?

How can we share or re-use?

Case Study

What are your rights?

Exclusive Rights

The author of a copyright work has the

exclusive right to

reproduce,

publish,

perform,

communicate and

adapt his work.

These rights enable a copyright owner to

control the commercial exploitation of his work.

What you can do with rights

Copyright is a form of property.

It can be licensed or transferred,

either as an entire bundle (all of the rights)

or as a single right (e.g. only the right to adapt)

Adaptation

Rights in Classical Works

•Make 2D versions

of 3D works

•Make 3D versions

of 2D works

How long these rights last

How to use copyright works

Consent is needed to do anything that only the copyright owner has the exclusive right to do (e.g. reproduce the work).

Merely acknowledging the source when one uses the work is insufficient.

To obtain consent from copyright owners, one may: contact the copyright owners directly and negotiate for

a licence to use the copyright work; or

obtain a licence through a collecting society.

No consent = infringement

Primary Infringement

Infringement occurs when one has not

obtained consent from the copyright owner to

do something that only the copyright owner

has the exclusive right to do.

photocopies an article without consent

Don’t infringe these rights

Reproducing Adapting Publishing

Primary Infringement of Substantial

Amount

One does not need to have reproduced the entire

copyright work - as long as a SUBSTANTIAL

AMOUNT of the original work has been copied.

SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT is not measured merely

in terms of the quantity that has been copied.

The Court also takes into account the nature of

the portion that has been copied or reproduced.

If the portion copied is an important part of the

copyright work, the Court may say that a

substantial amount has been copied

Secondary Infringement

Infringement also occurs when one deals

commercially with infringing copies, e.g. if a

person:

a) imports infringing copies for sale or distribution;

b) sells (including distribution for trade or any

other purpose)

or lets for hire infringing copies; or

c) offers infringing copies for sale or hire by way

of trade.

Don’t infringe these rights

Importing Selling Offering

Fair Dealing

Copying the whole or a part of a copyright work is permissible if it is a “fair dealing”.

Factors that will be taken into account

Purpose and character of the dealing (e.g. commercial nature? non-profit? Educational?);

Nature of the work;

Amount and substantiality of the part copied taken in relation to the whole work;

Effect of the dealing upon the potential market;

The possibility of obtaining the work within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price.

Fair Dealing Examples

Fair dealing = up to

10% of the number

of pages or 1

chapter, whichever

is the greater

Fair dealing =

acknowledgment of

the work

“research or study” “criticism, review or reporting”

Is this allowed?

Is this allowed?

What about publishing an

advertisement that shows the

difference?

What is Copyright?

What are your rights?

How can we share or re-use?

Case Study

How can we share and re-use?

Permission from Copyright Owners

Can you use this image from singapore.sg ?

Permission from Copyright Owners

“Terms of Use …. You also grant other users and members of the public a world-wide, royalty free, non-revocable and non-exclusive licence to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display such Content for non-commercial purposes. Non-commercial purposes include but are not limited to academic presentations, private research, study, criticism and review, any charitable purpose and any purpose that is solely for public benefit.” Source: Singapore.sg http://app.singapore.sg/terms-of-use

Public Domain = no control

Intellectual property rights have expired or are inapplicable. E.g. The plays of

Shakespeare

The music of Beethoven

Most of the early silent films

Formulae of Newtonian physics

Sources Wikimedia Commons

Pixelbay

Creative Commons = some control

What does this allow?

Case Study

Hercules

Freedom Formula