November/December 2009 / Features
Politcal Campaigns Put Copyright Basics in the Spotlight
The author says that two recent cases in the political arena raise fundamental copyright issues. First, musician Jackson Browne brought an action against John McCain and the Republican party for the unauthorized use of Browne’s “Running on Empty.” That case has been settled. The second case, still being litigated, involves the Associated Press, a photographer, and the man who used his photo in creating the Obama “Hope” poster.
Technology keeps making it easier to share copyrighted material, the author observes, but the Jackson Browne case suggests “that the courts will continue to defend copyright holders and the long-held basic principles of copyrighting regardless of medium.” Summarizing those basic principles, he notes that a copyright is the exclusive right to copy a work that has been independently created and that it pertains to the way the idea is expressed, not the idea itself. It can apply to many types of work, including literary, musical, graphic, and audio-visual, but not such things as slogans. It grants six exclusive rights: reproduction, derivative works, distribution, performance, display and digital transmission.
Most copyright cases are civil, and the plaintiff must prove copyright ownership and that at least one of the six exclusive rights has been violated. The author concludes with a tip for political candidates: “Negotiate a license before using somebody else’s material.”
