Common Law Copyright - Law Dictionary Search Results
Home Dictionary Name: common law copyrightcommon-law copyright
common-law copyright : a copyright in common law protecting unpublished works NOTE: Works created after January 1, 1978, are protected by statutory rather than common-law copyright while unpublished. ...
copyright
copyright : a person's exclusive right to reproduce, publish, or sell his or her original work of authorship (as a literary, musical, dramatic, artistic, or architectural work) see also common-law copyright, fair use at use, infringe intellectual property at property, international copyright, original, public domain compare patent, trademark NOTE: Copyrights are governed by the Copyright Act of 1976 contained in title 17 of the U.S. Code. The Act protects published or unpublished works that are fixed in a tangible medium of expression from which they can be perceived. The Act does not protect matters such as an idea, process, system, or discovery. Protection under the Act extends for the life of the creator of the work plus fifty years after his or her death. For works created before January 1, 1978, but not copyrighted or in the public domain, the copyright starts on January 1, 1978, and extends for the same period as for other works, but in any case will not expire before Decembe...
limited publication
limited publication : the communication of a work (as a text) to a selected group with the express or implied exclusion of the public and with common-law copyright thus preserved compare general publication ...
Copyright
Copyright, an incorporeal right, being the exclusive privilege of printing, reprinting, selling, and publishing is own original work which the statute law first gave to an author in 1709, by 8 Anne, c. 19, for the term of fourteen years. Whether the right exited at Common Law is a long-vexed and still undetermined question. See Jeffries v. Boosey, (1854) 4 HLC 815. There is no copyright in an illegal or immoral publication, Southey v. Sherwood, (1817) 2 Mer 435; Stockdale v. Onwhyn, (1826) 5 B&C 173.The law of copyright now depends mainly on the (English) Copyright Act,1911 (1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 46) (July 1, 1912), and 'no person shall be entitled to copyright or any similar right in any literary dramatic, musical, or artistic work, whether published or unpublished, otherwise than under and in accordance with the provisions of this Act, or of any other statutory enactment for the time being in force' (s. 31).By sub-s. 2 of s. 1 of this Act 'copyright' is thus defined:--For the purposes of ...
Music
Music. For the purposes of the Copyright Act, 1911, 'copyright' includes in the case of a musical work the right to make any record, perforated roll or other contrivance by means of which the workmay be mechanically performed [s. 1(2)(d)], see Performing Right Society Ltd. v. Hammond's Bradford Brewery Co. Ltd., 1934 Ch 121 (reproduction by radio receiving set and loud-speaker); and see also s. 19 of the Act, and as to posthumous works, s. 17. Copyright is now confined to such rights as are given by statute, the common law rights being abrogated (s. 31).The (English) Musical Summary Proceedings (Copyright) Act, 1902, and the (English) Musical Copyright Act,1906, amended by the (English) Copyright Act, 1911, give additional protection to the owners of musical copyright against unauthorized sales, a defect in the Act of 1902 having been discovered in Ex parte Francis, (1903) 1 KB 275; the Act of 1906 empowers constables to arrest, without warrant, sellers of music notified to the chief o...
Comprint
Comprint, a surreptitious printing of another book-seller's copy of a work, to make gain thereby, which was contrary to common law, and is illegal. See COPYRIGHT....
Piracy
Piracy [fr. pirata, Lat.], the commission of those acts of robbery and violence upon the sea, which if committed upon land wold amount to felony. Pirates hold no commission or delegated authority from any sovereign or State, empowering them to attack others. They can, therefore, be only regarded in the light of robbers. They are, as Cicero has truly stated, the common enemies of all (communes hostes omnium); and the law of nations gives to every one the right to pursue and exterminate them without any previous declaration of war (see Piracy Jure Gentium, 1934, AC 586, where a frustrated attempt was held to be piracy by that law); but it is not allowed to kill them without trial, except in battle. Those who surrender or are taken prisoners must be brought before the proper magistrates, and dealt with according to law. By the ancient Common Law of England, piracy, if committed by a subject, was held to be a species of treason, being contrary to his natural allegiance; if by an alien, to ...
trademark
trademark : a mark that is used by a manufacturer or merchant to identify the origin or ownership of goods and to distinguish them from others and the use of which is protected by law see also dilution, infringement, strong mark, weak mark Trademark Act of 1946 in the Important Laws section compare copyright, patent, service mark NOTE: The Patent and Trademark Office registers trademarks and service marks that are used in interstate commerce or in intrastate commerce that affects interstate commerce. There are also state registration statutes for marks used in intrastate commerce. A trademark or service mark need not be registered for an owner to enforce his or her rights in court. The common law recognizes ownership of a trademark, established by actual and first use of the mark, but it extends only to the areas or markets where the mark is used. Federal registration of a trademark gives rise to a federal cause of action for infringement in addition to the common-law claim. Regist...
Injunction
Injunction, Expression 'injunction' in s. 41(b) is not qualified by an adjective and, therefore, it would, comprehend both interim and perpetual injunc-tion, Cotton Corporation of India v. United Industries Ltd., AIR 1983 SC 1272 (1277): (1983) 4 SCC 625. [Specific Relief Act, 1963, s. 41(b)]This is the discretionary process of preventive and remedial justice, whereby a person is required to refrain from doing a specified meditated wrong, not amounting to a crime. It is either (1) inter-locutory, i.e., provisional or temporary, until the coming in of the defendant's answer, or until the hearing of the cause; or (2) perpetual, i.e., forming part of a decree made at a hearing upon the merits, whereby the defendant is perpetually inhibited from the assertion of a right, or perpetually res-trained from the commission of an act contrary to equity and good conscience. As to mandatory injunctions, see post.See Specific Relief Act, 1963 (47 of 1963), s. 37.Prior to the Judicature Act injunctio...
Publication
Publication, divulgation; proclamation; also 'the communication of defamatory words to some person or persons other than the person defamed' (Odgers on Libel).The publication of fair reports of legal proceedings in Court (other than ex parte proceedings) is a Common Law right exempt from proceedings for libel.As to the publication of an apology for libel in a newspaper, see LIBEL.Is essential in an action of defamation that the publication be to a third person, though the law is otherwise in Scotland. Thus, there can be no publication as between husband and wife, Wennhak v. Morgan, (1888) 20 QBD 635; but publication can be made to either husband or wife respecting the other, Jones v. Williams, (1888) 1 TLR 572. The third party to whom the matter is published may be in the position of a servant or clerk, Edmondson v. Birch & Co., (1907) 1 KB 371, but see Osborn v. Boulter & Son, (1930) 2 KB 226; but must be able to understand the defamatory character of the matter, Sadgrove v. Hole, (19...
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