My 19 November 2010 presentation on "Real World Copyright for Developers" at HP/Palm\'s webOS Developer Day in New York City.

1. REAL WORLD COPYRIGHT
FOR DEVELOPERS
Professor Jonathan I. Ezor
jezor@tourolaw.edu
@webOSquire on Twitter
Palm Developer Day NY
November 19, 2010

2. jezor@tourolaw.edu
Copyright--What is It?
• Protects artistic and literary works from misuse
• Under U.S. law, protection exists on creation
• Filing, putting © [Name] [Date] add to the court’s
award
• Unless stated in writing, creator holds copyright
• Copyright holder can prevent others from
copying, retransmitting, adapting, or publicly
performing copyrighted material
• By law, includes musical recordings and software

3. jezor@tourolaw.edu
Copyright--What Isn’t It?
• Doesn’t protect titles
• Doesn’t protect logos/slogans
• Doesn’t protect ideas, only the specific
expression
• Doesn’t protect against similar (or identical)
materials developed independently

4. Copyright Exists
Automatically
• Exists upon creation
• No filing necessary
• Filing required before bringing infringement
action
• Notice, filing increase potential damages
• Life of creator plus 70 years
• For anonymous, 95 years from publication or 120
years from creation
• Managed by Library of Congress
jezor@tourolaw.edu

5. Exclusive Rights Granted
by Copyright
• Reproduction
• Prepare derivative works
• Distribute copies by sale or transfer, rental,
lease or lending
• Public display
• Public performance or digital transmission of
sound recordings
jezor@tourolaw.edu

6. Transfer of Ownership
Different from License
• Ownership means control of rights
• Other than work made for hire or other
operation of law, transfer must be in
writing
• Verbal transfers not valid
jezor@tourolaw.edu

7. jezor@tourolaw.edu
Debunking Copyright Myths
• Changing 20% or 80% of image removes
copyright protection
– NO--Copyright holder holds rights in “derivative
works” also
– No amount of changes removes copyright
protection
• Publicly accessible means publicly usable
– NO--Still need to check source
– Even “freeware” is subject to copyright--license
may be restricted--different from public domain

9. jezor@tourolaw.edu
More “Myth”conceptions
About Copyright
• License for traditional media = Web site
license
– NO--Each medium may require separate
clearance/payment
• “Fair Use” allows unlimited use of materials
if not charging admission/viewing fee
– NO--Fair use exception under law is very limited
• generally only to excerpts
• newsworthy, educational, not-for-profits, satire

10. Fair Use
• Fair use factors – 17 USC § 107
– the purpose and character of the use, including whether such
use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational
purposes;
– the nature of the copyrighted work;
– the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to
the copyrighted work as a whole; and
– the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of
the copyrighted work
• No bright-line test
• Fair use is a defense
jezor@tourolaw.edu

13. Digital Millennium
Copyright Act
• Enacted October 28, 1998 to deal with unique elements of
digital technologies
• Prohibits circumvention of software anti-piracy measures
• May not “manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or
otherwise traffic in” circumvention technologies
• Provides certain protection for siteowners from third-party
infringements on their sites
• Foreign law (France, Australia) may be different
jezor@tourolaw.edu

14. Anti-Circumvention
Rulemaking:
http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2010/Librarian-of-Congress-1201-Statement.html

15. Software Development—
Copyright and Related IP
Issues
• OS and app developers face IP issues
• Not only copyright but trademark and
patent
• Violations can be accidental
• Can pose financial and legal risks
jezor@tourolaw.edu

16. Licenses: Free vs. Free
• Software as copyrightable work shared via
license
• Owner can choose type of license to use
• Must separate (free) cost from (free) rights
• “Libre” vs. “Gratuit” (per @paulrubell)
• Watch out for imposed licenses
jezor@tourolaw.edu

18. Palm & Open Source:
http://opensource.palm.com/packages.html

20. By submitting your patch via the
webOS-Patches Upload Form,
committing it to the
Gitorious.org/webos-
internals/modifications repository or
posting it to the webOS-Internals Wiki,
you, the submitter, explicitly agree you
are either the original author of the
patch or have the right to submit the
patch under the MIT Open Source
License. Further, by submitting via the
above methods you automatically agree
the patch will be licensed under the
MIT Open Source License. This is to
allow Palm to use the patches as-is to
incorporate them into future webOS
releases.

21. Palm Developer Account
& License Terms:
http://developer.palm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1840&Itemid=27

22. Palm’s Trademark
http://www.palm.com/us/company/trademark.html

23. Other Key IP Concerns for
Developers
• Verifying rights of licensors
• Samples and sound boards
• Moral rights and talent rights
• Trade secrets & NDAs
• Trademarks
• Patents
jezor@tourolaw.edu

24. jezor@tourolaw.edu
Licensing:
Obtaining Use Rights from
Owner
• Licenses may cover any kind of IP
• Terms include
– Scope of license
– Term
– Sublicensing
• May be standalone or part of other
agreement
• Bankruptcy can affect license

25. Web Development--
Copyright Concerns
• Ownership of content--work made for hire versus
license
• Formatting code versus programming code
• Source and license for third-party materials
• Moral rights and talent rights
• Reuse by client and developer
• Ownership in event of dispute
jezor@tourolaw.edu

26. Procedures to Follow
When Obtaining Materials
• Assume everything protected by copyright
• Try to obtain rights for all possible uses up front
• If obtain from client, make sure client has all rights
necessary for this use
• If obtain from ‘Net, seek out original source for
clearance
• Beware of frames, improper <img src> use
• Remember that talent rights are separate from
copyright (stock photos)
jezor@tourolaw.edu

27. Procedures to Follow
When Using Materials
• Never put anything into an app which would ruin your business
if copied
• Unique phrases, filenames aid in tracking theft
• Digital watermarks, lower resolution protects integrity of
images from screenshots
• Watch site logs for full-site downloads which may indicate
snatching or improper pulls of your content
• Register notice address with Copyright Office
• Have process for dealing with complaints, subpoenae
• Don’t forget insurance and incorporation
jezor@tourolaw.edu

28. jezor@tourolaw.edu
QUESTIONS?

29. Professor Jonathan I. Ezor
e. jezor@tourolaw.edu
@webOSquire on Twitter