Copy right/left

Copyright questions

What is copyright?

Is the law that gives the owner of a work (like art or photographs) the right to say how other people are able to use it. Copyright laws make it easier for authors to make money by selling their works. It is one part of a group of laws about intellectual property.

What are the laws that apply to copyright in New Zealand?

 In New Zealand, there is no copyright register or application process needed to be granted copyright protection. Protection comes into effect automatically when an original copyright work is created, published or performed (Copyright Act 1994).

When is a painting or book for example, no longer in copyright in New Zealand?

Copyright protects the expression of ideas or information − not the ideas or information itself. For example, if you write a novel, the text will be protected, but not the ideas or plot. Someone could write their own novel using your ideas, without necessarily infringing copyright.

What is copyleft?

Copyleft is a general method for making a program (or other work) free (in the sense of freedom, not “zero price”), and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free as well.

Why was copyleft (Creative Commons) created?

Creative Commons licences make it easy for you to share your copyright works. The six Creative Commons licences ensure that others can copy and distribute your work, provided they give you credit — and only on the conditions you specify.

Creative Commons has been described as being at the forefront of the copyleft movement, which seeks to support the building of a richer public domain by providing an alternative to the automatic "all rights reserved" copyright, and has been dubbed "some rights reserved".

What types of CC license are there?

ATTRIBUTION

This means that others must credit you as the original creator of the work. All Creative Commons licences require users to provide attribution.

NONCOMMERCIAL

This means that others may not share, adapt or reuse use your work if their use is primarily intended for commercial advantage or monetary compensation.

 NODERIVATIVES

This means that others can share your work, but they must not change it. Note that users still have the range of Fair Dealing rights granted to them under the Copyright Act 1994.

 SHAREALIKE

This means that those who adapt or remix your work must use the same Creative Commons licence on any derivative works. Before remixing works that have different licences, check the licence compatibility chart.

How do you apply a copyright license(s) to your own work?

Before 1989, United States law required the use of a copyright notice, consisting of the copyright symbol (©, the letter C inside a circle), the abbreviation "Copr.", or the word "Copyright", followed by the year of the first publication of the work and the name of the copyright holder. Several years may be noted if the work has gone through substantial revisions

If you are commissioned to create a work of art or design who owns the copyright, and under what conditions?

One of the most important parts of the Copyright Act for artists, software developers, designers and other creators of original works – and their clients – is the “Commissioning Rule”.  This Rule (contained in section 21(3) of the Copyright Act 1994) provides that, where an original work is created on a client’s instructions for a fee (or other reward), then the client (not the creator) owns the copyright in the work.