Copyright Laws Over Creative Works - 2431 Words

Copyright is a federally protected part of intellectual property that automatically regulates creative works of authors. Copyright laws began approximately around the 15th century in Europe. The cause for such regulations stems from infringement of creative works. These works fall into one of three main categories; music, visual works, and literary works. Copyright infringement highlights the need for copyright laws over creative works in music, art and writing, resulting in an ever changing copyright landscape. Title 17 of the United States Code outlines what does not fall into any of these three categories, and therefore cannot be protected under copyright. It is also important to note that not every use of a creative work†¦show more content†¦Upon creation of a creative work, copyright protection is automatically awarded (Moser, 2012, p.5). According to Lau et al., copyright lasts for seventy years after the death of the author(s) and for a corporation, ninety-five years after being published or one hundred twenty years from the creation date depending on which is sooner. Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, or Copyright Clause, and Title 17 of the United States Code also work to protect copyrights at the federal level. As stated by Congress, the Copyright Clause encourages â€Å"the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right† (Lau, 2014). As stated in Title 17  § 1-102, works outside of the â€Å"works of authorship† categories are not copyrightable. Public domain is one of these categories, Lau et al. describes it as â€Å"any intellectual property not protected by law and feely available for any member of the public to use† (2014). After a copyright of a work has expired it becomes part of the public domain as well. Sound recordings are another example of an un-copyrightable works â€Å"that result from the fixation of a se ries of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work, regardless of the nature of the material objects, such as disks, tapes, or other phonorecords, in which they are embodied† (17,  § 1-101 ). Ideas cannot be copyright protected because