Copyright in the USA - Warner Bros and J K Rowling versus RDR Books - Case Study Example

A case study about copyright in the USA Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date: Executive Summary A copyright is a legislation which protects authored works from authorized use. The following report will take an analysis of the copyright law in the United States taking a reference to a copyright case involving Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling versus RDR Books. The case involved the derived work by RDR books of the Harry Porter Lexical, which was a guide book to the famous Harry Porter fiction. The report will analyze the copyright law with respect to following aspects; obtaining it, rights granted under it, works which are not protected by the copyright law among other aspects of the copyright law. The report will at the end indicate the relevance of the US Copyright law. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Background Information About the case 4 Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling versus RDR Books 4 3.0 Analysis of the US Copyright Law 5 3.1 Getting Copyright Protection 5 Works which Are Not protected by the Copyright Law 6 Rights Associated With the Copyright Law 7 Other Aspects of the US Copyright Law 8 1.0 Introduction The copyright law is a legislation which seeks to protect the original works of an individual, intellectual property, creative work or any other individual work from unauthorized use by third parties. Ideally, the copyright law holds that an individual should be able to benefit from his/ her works without being disadvantaged by other people who want to take advantage of his/ her works and use them for their own use (US Government 9). Some of the instances whereby the copyright law comes in hand includes: restricting the authorized production music records (piracy), the authorized copying of parts of whole published works, the stealing of ingenious ideas e.g. the design of something amongst others. A copyright law protects a given work within a specific period of time owing to the fact that no one can own knowledge in eternity. The following paper will take a deep insight into the United States Copyright law, with a special focus on the copyright case Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling versus RDR Books. 2.0 Background Information About the case Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling versus RDR Books The Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling versus RDR Books was a very famous case owing to the subject of contention. In the case development, the RDR books had attempted to publish a for profit book which provide a guide to the Famous Harry Potter fiction by J.K. Rowling and based on The Harry Potter Lexicon, website whose movies are directed by Warner Bros. As a result of this, the Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling sued RDR Books for an infringement of the copyright on Harry Potter’s fiction (Patterson 1). According to Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling, the proposed publication relied so much on the Harry Potter’s fiction, having numerous pages taken out from the original books, paraphrasing of several arguments in the original fiction, and characterizations which resembled those in the original fiction. Owning to the fact that the proposed publication was a for profit one, it was viewed that RDR books were using someone else’s idea for commercial purposes, hence raising a question as to the legality of their actions. As pointed out earlier, this report will discuss the US Copyright law with respect to the case identified above. In the discussion of the law, several subtopics will be discussed as indicated below. 3.0 Analysis of the US Copyright Law The United States copyright law is protected by the constitution under the Federal Statute. The copyright law is constituted in the Copyright act of 1976 which restricts the unauthorized copying of someone else’s authored work. On this point, it is important to distinguish between a patent and a copyright. A copyright protects a work which is authored; that is a recorded work may it be in digital or print form while a patent protects an idea (Bushell 1). For instance, a copyrighted book may be discussing about a patented idea about making a bio fuel. With respect to the Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling versus RDR Books case which is under reference, Rowling has a copyright to the book which she has written on Harry Potter while the Warner Bros. have a copyright on the movies directed based on Harry Potter the fiction. This section will analyze some of the major aspects of the US Copyright Law. 3.1 Getting Copyright Protection Ideally, it is important for any author to seek a copyright protection for his/ her original works. As a result f this, the author will have exclusive rights on his/ her works. As indicated earlier a copyright prevents the authorized use of an authored work. In addition to this, a copyright gives the owner of the copyright the power to seek legal intervention in instances when his/ her work has been used by unauthorized party. On this pint, it is important to note that Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling versus had obtained a copyright for the fiction book and film Harry Potter. For this reason, any person who wanted to use the contents of the film or the book would need to seek their permission first. This is contrary to what RDR Books did. Instead of seeking for the authority to use the contents of the fiction from the copyright holders, RDR books went ahead to author the Harry Potter Lexical which had a lot of content derived from fiction. Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling had a chance to sue RDR Books since they had already obtained a copyright (Reid 291). There are various worlds which can be protected by a copyright under the US Copyright law. Each of the works has to fulfill the required requirements for them to be considered for a copyright protection. Under the US Copyright law, copyrights are registered in the Copyright office located in the library of Congress. Works which Are Not protected by the Copyright Law Generally, not all works can be protected by the copyright law. As indicated earlier, there are specific requirements which a works must fulfill for it to be protected by the US Copyright law. For this reason, there are several other legal establishments for which works which cannot be protected by copyright can get the same protection as that offered by the copyright law (Diotalevi 3). For this reason, it is important for an individual to have a full knowledge of his/ her works and the legal entities surrounding it. it is with such that he/ she will seek for a legal protection framework which will ensure that he/ she has he maximum control/ rights over his/ her works. For instance, the concept of patents has been discussed in the previous subheading. Other legal establishments which are available for the protection of works include the intellectual properties protection (Cornell University Law School 1). Some of the works which cannot be protected under the US Copyright law includes the following; short phrases, slogans, titles, ideas, works which are not fixed and useful articles. Taking a look at the Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling versus RDR Books, it can be seen that it was protected by the copyright law due to the fact that it is an authored work. Rights Associated With the Copyright Law The main basis of the copyright law is to bestow the owner of an authored work the exclusive rights over his or her work. As a result of this, the owner has specific rights which control the use of the work. Looking at the Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling versus RDR Books case, it can be seen that Warner Bros. and Rowling sued RDR Books since they had infringed on their rights which had been granted to them by the copyright law. As a result of this, the judgment on the case was in favor of Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling. According to the United States of America Copyright law, there are five main rights which are grated to the owner of a copyright. They include the following: first is the right to reproduce (Bit Law 1). This is notably one of the rights which are infringed one by many people. Many are the times when things like ‘insist on an original DVD’ and ‘say no to piracy’ are heard. This is a result of the inheanous acts of reproducing copies of the original works. This means that the illegal reproduction of works makes the owner not to have an economical gain from his/ her works. Another right which is granted by the copyright law is the right to prepare derivative works (Bit Law 1). This is the main bond of contention in the Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling versus RDR Books case. On this right, the owner has the sole right of authorizing the derivation of works from his or her original piece or either deriving works from his/ her original piece. Looking at the situation surrounding the case under reference, it can be acknowledged that the defendant did not seek any authority to make the Harry Potter Lexical from Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling. As a result of this RDR Books infringed on the owners of the Harry Potter Copyright to make derivative works from the fiction. Another right which is granted by the copyright law is the right to distribute copies. Ideally, the reproduction and distribution of copies is the point at which the owners of original works gain economical benefits from their works; hence infringing on this right deprives them off the economic benefits. The fourth right is the right to perform the copyrighted works on a public space (Bit Law 1). This explains the reason as to why Warner Bros. sought the authority to cast the films based on the fiction. The last right under the US Copyright law is the right to display. On this point, it is illegal to display copyrighted works on public space without the consent of the owner, hence the reason as to why cinemas have to seek the copyright owners authority to show movies. Other Aspects of the US Copyright Law There are several other aspects under the US Copyright law. They include the following: first is the issue about the fair use of copyrights. The law specifies that the copyrights should be used with a good will, hence not disadvantaging other people in appropriately (Diotalevi 4). Second is the duration of copyright. As indicated earlier, no one can own knowledge in eternity; hence there are specific durations for which a copyright holds. Thirdly is the ownership of a copyright. There are various types of ownership with the joint ownership of the Harry Potter fiction by Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling being one type of it. Lastly, the law perceives the infringement of the copyright law as a tort; hence the person found guilty of it is liable to paying a compensation fee. 4.0 Conclusion In conclusion, this report has been able to give an insight into the copyright law in the US. The reference case of Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling versus RDR Books has served as a good reference point for discussing several elements of the US copyright law. The paper has given a background on the case hence giving an insight into its relationship with the copyright law. The paper has also discussed about the rights of a copyright owner, copyright protection and works which are not protected by the copyright law among other several aspects of the US Copyright law. From the report, it is appropriate to conclude that the US Copyright law is very useful since it ensures that the original owners of authored works enjoy the full benefits associated with their works. Works cited Bit Law. Rights Granted Under the Copyright Law. Bit Law. (Web). (2012). Bushell, D. Understanding Copyright And Licenses. Smashing Magazine. (Web). (2011) Cornell University Law School. Patent And Copyright Cases, Legal Information Institute. (Web) . (2012) Diotalevi, R. An Education into the Copyright Law. Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship. 4.1. (2003), 1-12 Patterson, R., Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. And J.K. Rowling V RDR Books. United States District Court Southern District Of New York, 2008. 1-68 Reid, M. Harry Potter And The Copyright Act: Have The Courts Finally Waved A Magic Wand By Defining Fair Use For Secondary Authors?, Villanova Sports & Ent. Law Journal, 16. 1. (2009) 291-313 US Government. Copyright Law of the United States. 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