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Digital Rights Management - Protecting Your Content, Part Two

EDITOR'S NOTE: In our last issue, we discussed technical ways to
protect your content and "Digital Rights Management." In this
week's newsletter, we look the kinds of legal recourse you have.

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DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT - PROTECTING YOUR CONTENT, PART TWO


We couldn't be more timely with the topic of this week's Part Two
newsletter. The Copyright Society of the USA has deemed March
9 - 15th, "Copyright Awareness Week." While Copyright Awareness
Week was developed primarily to teach schools the importance and
basics of copyrights, the fact that it exists proves the need to
talk about this subject.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO),
"Last year marked a milestone in the history of copyright law."
In March 2002, the WIPO Copyright Treaty entered into force. The
treaty is one of two that "set out the legal framework to
safeguard the interests of creators in cyberspace and open new
horizons for composers, artists, writers and others to use the
Internet with confidence to create, distribute and control the use
of their works within the digital environment." 35 countries have
ratified the treaty.

The existing legal means by which to protect your intellectual
property include trademarks (for logos), patents (for inventions)
and copyrights (for written work.) As we mentioned in our last
issue, theoretically, as soon as you write your own content, it's
protected by copyright law. Copyright laws, however, are not
global while the Internet is, and enforcing your rights and
proving that you were the originator can be difficult. The trick
from days of old was to take an original version of a document,
seal it in an envelope, and send it back to yourself through
registered mail. Save this sealed envelope untouched until a
time you would need to prove ownership of the contents.

These days, things are not so simple.


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One approach to solving the problem with a legal fix is Creative
Commons. Developed by a Stamford law professor and his
academic colleagues, Creative Commons "developed a Web
application that helps people dedicate their creative works to
the public domain -- or retain their copyright while licensing
[these works] as free for certain uses, on certain conditions.
Creative Commons' Web application issues free "commons," or
"flexible intellectual property licenses." Currently, Creative
Commons offers 11 different types of licenses which are
differentiated by the terms of use the license holder requires.

These licenses can be used by artists, writers and programmers to
set permission limits for the outside use of their works.
Granting use of your work under a Creative Commons license does
not mean giving up your copyright. It just means you're offering
some of your rights to any taker, and only on certain conditions.

For example, you could obtain a Creative Commons license for an
article you've written or an eBook you've created and the
license would actually stipulate whether or not you would allow
it to be altered, what acknowledgements you'd expect, and/or
what charges should be paid if someone uses it.

Legally-enforceable IP license templates are available online and
they're free. Creative Commons issues your license expressed in
three forms: a "commons deed" (a plain-language summary), a
"legal code" (including all of the fine print you need to stand
up in court), and a "digital code" (a machine-readable code for
search engines and other applications to identify your work by
its terms of use). There's also a Creative Commons "Some Rights
Reserved" button for your web site.


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Another route for legal content protection is The Copyright
Clearance Center (CCC). Founded in 1978 "to facilitate
compliance with U.S. copyright law, CCC provides licensing
systems for the reproduction and distribution of copyrighted
materials in print and electronic formats throughout the world."

For authors, CCC offers free "Rightsholder Services." CCC's
Rightsholder Authorizations Agreement lets you control your
content and assign a per-page cost of use. CCC collects and
sends you your royalty checks and charges you a nominal service
fee for managing your copyrighted material. CCC will also
charge you a nominal listing fee if you register but do not
receive any royalty checks. CCC also has a program for
publishers. The link to the CCC is provided below.

Registering with the Copyright Clearance Center does not mean
you are registering a copyright for your work, something you do
not need to do but which can provide you with some legal benefits.
U.S. copyright filing takes place through the U.S. Copyright
Office.

Through the Internet, the public has been able to share ideas,
thoughts, and information. While strict laws could help protect
authors' and publishers' rights, they may also impede the true
power of the 'Net. Anyone sharing information online should take
the precautions s/he deems necessary, but nor can everyone
benefit from the same protection solution. Choose yours,
technical, legal or both, according to your needs and goals.


Related WebAdvantage.net articles:
http://www.webadvantage.net/tip_archive.cfm?tip_id=225&&a=1

Related Links:

Copyright Awareness Week
http://www.csusa.org/html/events/CAW2003.html

World Intellectual Property Organization
http://www.wipo.int/clea/docs/en/wo/wo033en.htm

Creative Commons
http://creativecommons.org

Copyright Clearance Center
http://copyright.com

US Copyright Office
http://www.loc.gov/copyright

The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA)
http://www.iipa.com