"I. Fred Koenigsberg - Copyright Primer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Koenigsberg I Fred)Copyright extends not only to works which can exist on their own, but to
compilations of such works or even to public domain material. The Copyright Law imposes a three-step test for such copyrightable compilations. They must first constitute the collection and assembling of pre-existing data or materials. Second, those materials must be selected, coordinated or arranged in a particular fashion. And, third, that selection, coordination or arrangement must itself possess sufficient originality and creativity to constitute an original work of authorship. Thus, for example, the alphabetical listing of all subscribers to a telephone company's service, as in an ordinary "white pages" telephone directory, does not constitute a copyrightable compilation -- no selection was made (all subscribers were listed) and no arrangement or coordination rose to the level of original expression (the listings were merely ordered alphabetically). On the other hand, the anthologizing of articles on a particular subject such as in an encyclopedia does constitute a copyrightable compilation. (Compilations of materials which can each stand on their own as copyrightable works, such as an encyclopedia, journal, or newspaper, are called "collective works.") In no event will copyright in a compilation extend to, affect, or enlarge the protection of the underlying pre-existing materials. Rather, it is only the original expression *347 contributed by the author of the compilation -- such as the selection of articles in an encyclopedia -- to which the compilation copyright extends. Copyright is a property right. Although it differs from most other forms of property in that it is intangible, it nevertheless has the essential elements or property, and is governed by the principles of property ownership. At the outset, the intangible nature of copyright requires a distinction between the intangible property of the copyright (called a "work") and the material object in which the copyrighted work is, quite literally, embodied (termed a "copy" or "phonorecord," terms which include such diverse media as paper-and -ink, computer disks, and audiotapes). Ownership of the copyrighted work does not constitute ownership of the material object in which it is embodied, and vice versa. Copyright ownership vests initially in the author or authors of the work. Joint Authorship When more than one author has created a work, the work is said to be a "joint work." Under the law, such a joint work is one prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole. Thus, joint authorship can occur when a composer and a lyricist collaborate on a song: even though their contributions, the music and lyrics, can exist independently of each other (the music as an instrumental, the lyrics as a poem), they were created as interdependent parts |
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