Welcome

Welcome

	Originally intended to be viewed page by page, much as one would read a book, today Copyright CopySense is arranged so that you can view the topics that interest you. Every page has the contents of the site on the left hand side of the page.
Copyright CopySense looks at many aspects of copyright.
	Have you ever? asks questions about common activities that few would consider to be covered by copyright. Then, Copyright Issues looks at some of the different copyright issues in today’s world of easy access to images and information. Copyright CopySense was originally developed as on-line training material for a specific Audience and it includes a copyright challenge test (in Adobe Acrobat format (pdf)) where you can self test your knowledge of copyright. When the copyright laws are violated, it is referred to a copyright infringement, which is explained on the Copyright Infringement page, and while most people believe the purpose of copyright is to ensure the copyright owner gets paid, the page on Purpose of Copyright tells a different story. As well, few realize that the United States copyright laws are Constitutionally based. For those who have valuable copyrighted material What Copyright Protects is important. As well, they, and those of us who use copyrighted material, should have an understanding of what All Rights Reserved and Public Domain really means. Most people don't realize that they are already authors of copyrighted material, explained in When Copyright Starts. They also don't realize that the copyright symbol, ©, is not required on newly copyrighted material, but is required on some old copyrighted material as part of the Copyright Notice. Many folks confuse copyright and Plagiarism issues when using material and citing sources. (They're not the same.) A very confusing issue is Copyright Duration, but, after struggling with it, we have a page that makes some sense. Another confusing issue is Fair Use. Intentionally vague, the fair use statute is what allows us to legally use copyrighted materials in some situations. Copyright in some respects is treated as though it were material property, and , just like material property, Copyright Ownership, can be transferred to others and inherited. It may not be clear, at first, whether copyright law violators would end up in Civil or Criminal court, but there aren't any copyright police. Most, but not all, U.S. Government Works are public domain, but in some cases there is a legitimate question as to Who Owns the Law? and it isn't the government or the people. Is E-mail Copyrighted? I'll bet you've already guessed the answer to that one. U.S. copyright protects domestic and Foreign Works. Uses of some of the rights that belong to the copyright holder may be covered under Licenses and Notices. If Permissions are sought and granted before copyrighted material is used, then copyright infringement is not an issue. Pre-Planning of projects can help prevent an infringement. If, an Inadvertant Infringement occurs, and it goes to court, there may be some consequences that have to be dealt with.
Disclaimer
	I am not a lawyer. The material on this site is based on my understanding of what I have read and studied. It is not legal advice.