From WhatPort80
Law has never been this hip to the jive.
DMCA, or The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, is ostensibly that part of law that codifies the extension of copyright and other intellectual property laws into the realm of the internet. In reality, however, it's a largely dispensible volume of paper that is more often used as a sledgehammer of harassment than as a sword of justice; bruising all who lay in the path of whomever wields it, mincing truth and accusation into a single, tender, mass.
The DMCA is really quite tl;dr. As a result, many people hold a variety of misconceptions about how copyright works on the internet.
Misconceptions about copyright
- Any created work is protected by copyright.
- False. To have a work protected by copyright you must include visible notification to the reader that it is copywritten. You must also have a disclaimer on the host site that clearly outlines the terms of use.
- Using copyrighted materials is illegal without express permission of the copyright holder - even under the "Fair Use" doctrine.
- True. The copyright holder possesses powers of absolute veto in regard to the use of their copyrighted material.
- In the case of photgraphic works, the copyright is traditionally held by the photographer except in the case of pre-arranged contract.
- False. The copyright is held by every person in the photo. This is because their appearance is considered a personal creative work, and the photographer is merely recording those works.
- Modification of commercial works qualifies under the "Fair Use" doctrine due to the commercial owner having already made enough money from it.
- True. Small modifications of commercial works that would normally be protected under copyright law are expressly allowed for by the DMCA in cases where the commercial work has already made lots of money. The resulting modified work subsequently has its own copyright to enable it to generate fame and fortune for the creator.
Gallery of DMCA'd images
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DMCA is a shackle on my hard drive
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See Also
| DMCA
is part of a series onAcronyms
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