Copyright Law of The United States - Limitations On Copyright and Defenses

Limitations On Copyright and Defenses

US copyright law includes numerous defenses, exceptions, and limitations.

Some of the most important include:

• Copyright applies only to certain subject matter, codified within 17 U.S.C. § 102. Works that are not "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression" are not subject to copyright. 17 U.S.C. § 102(b) codifies that copyright protection does not extend to ideas, procedures, processes, systems, etc. Facts may not be copyrighted. This doctrine was explored in some detail in the Feist case discussed above.
• Copyright law excludes typeface designs (Eltra Corp. v. Ringer), fashion design, useful articles (lamps, computer monitors, bathroom sinks), blank forms, titles, names, short phrases, slogans, lists of ingredients and contents, domain names, band names, and sightings of Elvis. Trademark and patent protection is available for some of these items. Architecture and architectural plans gained protection on December 1, 1990.
• The "fair use" exception is codified at 17 U.S.C. § 107, and states that "the fair use of a copyrighted work ... is not an infringement of copyright." The section lists four factors that must be assessed to determine whether a particular use is fair.
• The first sale doctrine is codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109, and limits the rights of copyright holders to control the distribution and display of copies of their works. The owner of a particular copy is entitled to "sell or otherwise dispose of the possession of that copy" and to "display the copy publicly ... to viewers present at the place where the copy is located."
• The "good faith" defense (Section 504(c)(2)) protects educational institutions, libraries, archives, and public broadcasters, by permitting the court to limit statutory damages to only $200 if they reasonably believed their infringement was a fair use under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
• 17 U.S.C. § 108 and § 110-122 include specific exemptions for types of works and particular entities, such as libraries (§ 108), public broadcasters (§ 110 and § 118), braille (§ 121), software backup copies (§ 117), "cover license" permitting sound recording covers (§ 115), and jukebox compulsory licenses (§ 116).
• Section 512 ("OCILLA", passed as part of the DMCA in 1998) provides a contingent "safe harbor" for online service providers from secondary liability for their users' copy infringements.
• An obscenity defense exists for pornographic work that is judged obscene by the miller test. Some courts have suggested pornography may be protected by copyright (Mitchell Brothers Film Co v. Cinema Adult Theater, 5th Cir. 1979, Jartech, Inc. v. Clancy, 9th Cir. 1982), but other courts have held the opposite (Dvils Films, Inc. v. Nectar Video, NY 1998), and the issue remains ambiguous.