Copyright as an Important Concept Which When Applied to Engineer - Report Example

Copyright Student’s name Institution Introduction Definition: Copyright is a legal term which refers to the exclusive right by the creator or author to license, make copies and otherwise utilize literary, artisitic, scientific or musical works which may be in form of video, audio or in print form (Torremans, 2007). Copyright in Engineering: Engineering is a scientific pursuit which in many instances results in the creation or authorship of unique concepts and ideas which may be copyrighted. The creator or author of a concept in engineering may either come up with new concepts in the field of architecture, software engineering, and chemical procedures which may be copyrighted through patenting or trade marking (Sweet, 2012). However in engineering copyright is more complicated as compared to other fields such as the arts wherein copyright is more defined and easily implemented. Procedure of Copyrighting Application: Engineering software programs will usually have the aspects of the author, year of completions, and limitation of claim. Author would refer to the description of copyrightable authorship of the engineering software being registered. This would include statements such as text of the computer program or manual and also the term computer program. Program features and functions, design, algorithm, physical form or hardware are not included. The year of completion refers to the date of first publication of the programs or concepts of engineering being registered (Jeremiah, 2009). Limitation of claims refers to declaration of whether the concepts or programs is composed of previously registered, public domain or published modules or subroutines including authoring tools or computer programs. Hard copies are mandatory in order to fulfill deposit requirements of registration. Mailing addresses must also be filed with the Library of Congress. Fees: Fees for the filing of an application are non refundable and are subject to change without notice. Fees are usually posted on the website of the copyright office or provided upon request to persons presenting themselves for registration of copyright at the copyrights office. The Deposit: Published or unpublished engineering programs or concepts will have one copy of identifying programs sent to the copyright office. This will include the first 25 pages and last 25 pages of the source code that is perceptually visible to the naked eye accompanied with a paper equivalent of the copyright notice. Online registrations will have the programs sent in electronic PDF format. If the source code is less than 50 pages all of it is to be sent to the copyright office. An author unwilling or unable to submit source code must state the same in writing and deposit an object code to be registered under the rules of doubt since existence of copyrightable ownership has not been sufficiently established (Rose, 2003). Programs Containing Trade Secrets: Programs in CD-ROM will be mailed in their entirety to the copyright office. They will incorporate instruction manuals and any operational software. Deposit will include the first 25 and last 25 pages of code or script language used. A cover letter containing the copyright notice and an assertion that the claim for registration has trade secrets will have to be made. Important Points: Every version of a new program or work must be registered separately following the same process as a new registration. Subsequent version registration is only relevant to the current registration and hence ought to have the dates and titles corresponding to the deposit copy and description of the updated version. It is important to include explanations of whether the claim is a derivative work, internal revision if the work has multiple dates in the copyright notice (Burrell & Coleman, 2005). Effective Date of Registration: The copyright office will issue a registration certificate dating the claim for copyright. The effective date is when the copyright office receives all the requirements such as the non refundable filing fee, non refundable deposit, and the application in the format prescribed. Publishing or production of the work is possible even before a certificate of copyright is received from the copyright office (Torremans, 2007). However action on infringement and certain remedies such as damages are only actionable upon receipt of certificate showing effective date of registration. What can and Cannot be Copyrighted Copyright is usually composed of a range of aspects such as trade mark, patent, and copyright itself. Each type of copyright determines what can and cannot be copyrighted. However there are several categories of authorship or creations which are distinctly classified as being either copyrightable or not copyrightable. Some aspects may be patentable while not subject to trademark and vice versa. In engineering the same types of limitations apply in what can or cannot be copyrighted (Sweet, 2012). What can be Copyrighted: Copyright is a legal concept which applies to works deemed to be original works. Given the broad historical meaning applied to the term there are potentially a lot of things which may be copyrightable. The Copyright act asserts that architectural works, literary works such as musical compositions dramatic works such as choreography and pantomimes graphics and pictorials are subject to copyright protection (Jeremiah, 2009). This list provided is clearly not comprehensive given the scope of copyright. For instance; Literary works; incorporates more than just what is normally considered to be literature such as essays, novels, poems and stories and goes on to list any authorship expressed in index, numerical, symbols, verbal or any expression in words or numbers. Musical compositions; incorporate melodies, tunes and lyrics. Dramatic works; incorporate TV scripts, plays and screenplays. Architectural works; incorporates building design and representations of the building or by its plans. What cannot be Copyrighted: Copyright does not protect everything and the following categories of authorship are not subject to copyright protection. Devices, ideas, discoveries, procedures, principles, methods, systems, concepts and processes except when they are recorded or written in description or explanation are not subject to copyright protection (Rose, 2003). Government publications are exempted from protection. Titles, slogans, names and short phrases; simple listing of contents of contents or ingredients are not protected by copyright unless their use has some association with a given service or product which entitles them to trademark protection. Works composed of information which is in the public domain such as tables or lists, standard calendars, standard rulers and measures and information that may be obtained from public documents are exempt from copyright rules. Works whose form of expression is not tangible for instance improvised speeches which have not been prerecorded or written are exempt from copyright protection. Protection of Engineering Works: The primary assets of an engineer are not offices or equipment but rather intellectual property in the form of plans or blueprints (Burrell & Coleman, 2005). The author of engineering plans being the author has the copyright to such plans and drawings in the absence of a written agreement saying otherwise. Design ideas and concepts are not protected by copyright regulations even as the expression of those ideas may be. Original works which independently created and having minimal creativity and expressed by the engineer in the form of drawings or plans may be copyright protected under common law even as this isn’t the best protection (Torremans, 2007). Architectural work may be protected by several federal regulations even though standard functional utilities such as stairs, windows and doors may not be protected. Artistic aspects of the engineering plans and drawings which are not utilitarian for instance pictorial displays or sculptures in a building are eligible for copyright protection. While some objects have utilitarian features their design may be copyrighted while their functional design cannot. Engineers may opt for a non exclusive license in order to ensure they are able to use their work in future projects. An engineer having exclusive rights to the plans or drawings has the rights in coming up with derivative works, building the structures or programs in the plans and the right of reproduction of programs or blueprints (Sweet, 2012). Protection Offered by Copyright Copyright is one of the best ways through which an engineer ensures that they benefit from their intellectual work and property. Copyright offers a range of protections through exclusive rights which apply to the author of a given work. However, while the author has exclusive rights to their work to do with as they please; there are provisions which make the work accessible to other people. These limitations specify situations in which copyright may be used by other people other than the author without violating copyright. Rights of the Copyright Owner; the owner of the copyright has the right to reproduce the work, display the copyrighted work publicly, make derivative works and distribute copies of the work. In engineering the rule is that the work belongs to the engineer if there is no contract declaring otherwise which was signed upon the start of the task (Jeremiah, 2009). The owner of copyright has the authority to give rights to others the rights to the rights enshrined in his copyright. Copyrights will usually last for the life of the author until a specified time after the death of the author. Nevertheless the period of time varies with different types of original works with regard to effective dates. An engineer has the right to either have the exclusive rights to their drawings and blueprints or they may license them out to others for a profit. If a contract of exclusivity is demanded by the person paying the contractor the engineer forfeits all rights to their design for monetary payment (Rose, 2003). In exclusive contracts in which the engineer has exclusive rights to the design the engineer has a right to sue the owner if they were to modify the design making it inferior to the original. Infringement of copyright if successfully fought in court will result in the payment of statutory damages to the engineer. Limitations on Copyright Protection; Doctrine of fair usage is one of the most critical of the limitations of that are placed upon copyright. The doctrine of fair usage asserts that copyrighted material or portions of it may be used for purposes of scholarship, reviews, news and commentary (Burrell & Coleman, 2005). As such the dissection of the qualities of a copyrighted work of design may not be deemed a violation of copyright if it is done for educational purposes. Students may analyze a given work and write reports of it without being in violation of copyright. Items which cannot be copyrighted such as ideas, titles, common facts, and names will not be protected for the engineers copyright. However if the engineer makes use of common names to refer to something unrelated to his concept he may have a copyright on his product. For instance the name Amazon is associated with the online retail store yet the name in itself is a forested region in South America. The name Apple used by Apple Inc refers to a brand computer even when in actual sense it is a fruit thus the name in reference to computers is copyrightable. Work which is in the public domain such as the process of making TVs may not be patented as the knowledge may be found in many mediums by the public. Challenges in the Production of the Report The writing of this report presented several challenges particularly since the report is to be based on engineering as opposed to a general analysis of copyright law. There was some challenge with regard to the finding of peer reviewed articles specifically dealing with engineering law on copyright. There was a challenge in seeking balance between legal jargon and engineering jargon and also the need to keep the language of the report simple enough. Having found journals on copyright the information was too much resulting in a challenge of what to include and what not to include. There was the challenge of staying motivated and working with the plan. I dealt with these challenges through a range of solutions; I searched in the library particularly making use of online journals available on the subject eventually finding the sources required. I decided to make my language as simple enough and to avoid legal and engineering jargon as much as possible. I decided to discard some of the sources after ranking them in order of relevance and importance. I rewarded myself and asked my peers to help in discussions in order to stay motivated and working towards the goal. Lessons and Recommendations There is a need for engineers to be conversant with relevant legal provisions with regard to copyright. Copyright in engineering is a critical concept which needs to be taken into account before entering into contract. Engineers have to be aware of the provisions of the copyright act and the rights and protections offered including the limitations therein. Different fields of engineering such as software and architectural design have different codes of the law which protect their different aspects and hence an engineer ought to have knowledge of the specific provisions regarding their trade. Copyright in engineering is applied differently for different aspects; for instance functionality and utility may have different rules regarding copyright. Copyright regulations with regard to engineering ought to be modified in order to better protect intellectual property since some aspects such as customary law are too limited to protect IP. There are great opportunities for engineers to earn through licensing of their copyrighted material for use by other people. Engineers ought to demand exclusive rights to their drawings and blueprints in order to ensure that they get maximum earnings from their IP through derivation and modification of said IP. Conclusion Copyright is an important concept which when applied to engineering has the potential to revolutionize practice. Engineers need to have knowledge on how to copyright their ideas in order that they may benefit like authors in other fields. Knowledge of the procedures that are relevant in the acquisition of a patent is crucial tools in the arsenal of the engineer. It is critical for engineers to know that registration must be done at every new revision of the source code, drawings or blueprints. Knowledge of effective date of registration is important since such knowledge will assist in making the decision on whether to publish or not before the certificate is issued by the copyright office. There are different legal loopholes which allow designers to make use of ordinary titles and names in trade marking their ideas which could come in handy in reducing limitations on copyright. References Burrell, R., & Coleman, A. (2005). Copyright exceptions: The digital impact. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Jeremiah, D. (2009). “Copyright Protection for Engineers,” Professional Engineer, 17, 24-27 Rose, M. (2003). Authors and owners: The invention of copyright. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Sweet, J. (2012). “Legal aspects of architecture, engineering and the construction process,” Engineering Journal, 76, 45-51. Torremans, P. (2007). Copyright law: A handbook of contemporary research. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Read More