Diane Graves' Copyright Presentation

From the overview of copyright laws that university librarian Diane Graves gave, I learned the length of time a copyright lasts, policy about fair use and public domain, and the entertainment industry's manner of tracking down illegal distribution of copyrighted works. At the very start of her presentation, I was surprised to learn that copyright terms for monographs, which are individual works created by a single author, last for the author's lifetime plus an additional seventy years. Furthermore, publications made by corporations own the copyright for ninety-five years after they are produced. I was not expecting that these copyright terms would be so long because I was under the false impression that copyright terms only lasted for fourteen years like they did in the 1700s and 1800s. Understandably, though, many authors and corporations wan to receive credit, and in some cases money, for the publications that they worked so hard to create. However, as Diane Graves mentioned, these terms are so long that the public domain is significantly limited.

The public domain includes all published works that anyone can use without having to ask permission from the author. No copyright infringement issues can arise if they come from the public domain. Strangely enough, however, publications called "Orphan Works," for which no author or copyright owner can be traced, are not part of this public domain in the United States. Since they cannot be lawfully used under copyright laws because it is impossible to know who to ask permission from to utilize the work, these publications are essentially obsolete. Obviously, everyone wants their work protected from unauthorized distribution which could, in turn, lead to plagiarism. The "Orphan Works" legislation seems to assume that the author will find out about the use of his work and some sort of legal quandaries will ensue. If someone wanted to prevent this from happening, the author would most certainly ensure that his name and copyright appeared on the document. Nevertheless, I strongly prefer Canada's policy concerning "Orphan Works." Their laws state that if after a six month search for the copyright still no one can be attributed to the work, it can be added to the public domain. To me, this policy is more reasonable because the public benefits and the author's work can still be appreciated.