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creation and before public exposure, in order
to establish originality. There are generally
accepted methods of registration in the region
and worldwide, as listed below:
1.
The ‘Poor Man’s Copyright Method’
involves mailing a physical copy of the
work by registered post. The date stamped
on the envelope is the registration date, but
an author is best advised to place or embed a
copyright legend on the actual work which
includes name and date of creation, e.g.
© John Doe, August 2015. The envelope
should remain unopened and used as
evidence in the event of a legal dispute;
2.
Government-run voluntary copyright
registration systems allow for rights holders
to deposit a physical or digital copy of their
work for recordation purposes and receive
a certificate, which can prove very useful
in negotiations and transactions, as an
ownership claim over a specific work;
3.
Privately-owned voluntary copyright
registration systems are also available in
various jurisdictions and operate much in
the same way as the government systems;
and
4.
In many jurisdictions, there are mandatory
requirements to deposit works with
that country’s national library for the
preservation and archiving of a collection of
cultural heritage and historical matter. This
can also be used as a part of the evidentiary
proof that a rights owner took steps to
identify himself/herself with the work.
Step 2: Income Generation
A creative professional who is conducting
business transactions regarding a copyright work
will be faced with two choices: either to license
the work on specific terms and conditions, or to
fully assign the work, which severs any interest
in the economic rights of the work. Similar to
the use and negotiation of real property e.g.
land, a creative professional can approach or
be approached by interested parties such as
producers, publishers, investors, broadcasters,
and regular end users to allow for specific uses or
even to fully assign all rights in the work to them.
Some creative professionals may prefer to simply
keep their works private and/or to commercialise
it themselves. In the same way that a landowner
will questionwhether selling the landwill benefit
him more than investing in it and leasing it, a
creative professional will have to consider very
carefully any proposals put forward for the work.
An IP/copyright attorney is the best source of
advice since each transaction is unique and often
consists of complex, multi-page contracts with
many loopholes.
This is a good opportunity to explain the aspect
of related rights (also known as neighbouring
rights) granted to performers, sound recording
producers, broadcasters and cable service
providers. When a copyright owner licenses or
assigns a work to one of these entities, the rights
to the derivative work are owned by the entity.
In principle, unless there are any contracts to
the contrary, each rights holder remains owner
in full of the rights in their work, having simply
given permission for use under specific terms.
For example, a sound producer will license lyrics
froma songwriter and amelody froma composer,
and after editing and mastering a combination
of elements will be the owner of the rights in
the master recording released. Recently reported
in Jamaica, artiste Duane Stephenson claimed
that his former label is promoting and selling
a short album, entitled Nature Boy, that not
intended or agreed for public release. According
to an article in the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper,
dated May 8, 2015, the label producer, Kemar
‘Flava’ McGregor, has rebutted that he has the full
rights to themasters as the producer and therefore
committed nowrong by remastering and releasing
these works.
Every rights holder has the economic rights to
C.A.R.D. – that is, to communicate to the public,
adapt,reproduce,anddistributehisorherwork–as
wellasthemoralrightstobeidentifiedastheauthor,
The ‘Poor Man’s Copyright Method’ involves mailing a physical copy of the work by registered post.
The date stamped on the envelope is the registration date, but an author is best advised to place or
embed a copyright legend on the actual work which includes name and date of creation.
Clearing the Hurdles
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