Appendix B - Copyright in the United States

The Dorian Principle, A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity, by Conley Owens.

Appendix B Copyright in the United States. In the United States, copyright applies to original works fixed in a tangible medium of expression.

It may additionally apply to various artistic works, but does not protect facts or inventions.

Works exist under copyright protection the moment they are fixed in a tangible form. One may register a work with the

U .S. Copyright Office, but this registration is unnecessary to establish protection, only to assist in the event of litigation.

Copyright protection provides the copyright holder with exclusive rights to reproduce the original work, make derivative works, distribute copies of a work, or to display or perform that work publicly.

However, fair use doctrine allows for segments of a protected work to be copied and distributed for purposes such as criticism.

Copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. For anonymous works or works made for hire, it typically endures for 95 years from initial publication.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, DMCA, enacted in 1998, provides additional protections or limitations on digital works.

Because digital works often include some copy protection mechanism, the DMCA makes it illegal to circumvent these mechanisms or disseminate tools intended to circumvent these mechanisms.

Additionally, the DMCA makes it illegal to link to infringing content. Because many service providers, e .g.,

online video sites, host content uploaded by users, the DMCA offers a provision to grant safe harbor for such utilities, provided they comply with regulations designed to prevent copyright infringement.

Of course, there are many details and edge cases not covered in this brief summary. Furthermore, copyright law in the

United States has a varied history, so these rules do not apply uniformly to works authored in the past.