Gail Moore wrote:
> Ok Steven and thanks I could not figure out then if several papers print the
> same thing who owns the copyright??
> Would it then be the Hospital or Funural Home???
> This is what I am trying hard to learn and no one has addressed that part
> yet??


A copyright, if one exists, belongs to the author of the work.  Unless the
author has given or sold it to someone else.  Or, unless the author created the
work for an employer.  In which case the employer owns the copyright, if it
exists.  

The copyright of a work does not belong to the publisher, the reader, the
distributor, or anyone else.  Unless the copyright owner gives or sells the
copyright to them.

If a relative wrote the piece then that person would own the copyright, if any. 
I doubt that the hospital or funeral home could claim the copyright because they
are being hired by the family for their services.  They generally have to ask
the family for the information which they then formulate into the piece sent to
the newspaper.  Their written work, in my opinion, is part of the services for
which they were hired.  I think anything the Funeral Home or Hospital writes
would be considered a "work for hire."  Thus the copyright would belong to the
people who paid for the service.

I think that simple birth and death notices would not be copyright protected. 
To earn copyright protection, the work has to constitute an original work of
authorship.  Works consisting entirely of information that is common property
and containing no original authorship are not copyright protected.  Lists or
tables taken from public documents or other common sources are not copyright
protected.  

Thus, a simple recitation of birth and death facts available in public records
might not trigger a copyright.  But, an original work such as a poem would be
copyright protected.

IMHO, 

Steve Coker


-=-=-=-=-

WHO CAN CLAIM COPYRIGHT
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/

Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form.
The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the
author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights
through the author can rightfully claim copyright. 

In the case of works made for hire, the employer and not the employee is
considered to be the author. Section 101 of the copyright statute defines a
"work made for hire" as: 

A "work made for hire" is -- 

(1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or 

(2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a
collective work, as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, as a
translation, as a supplementary work, as a compilation, as an instructional
text, as a test, as answer material for a test, or as an atlas, if the parties
expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be
considered a work made for hire. For the purpose of the foregoing sentence, a
"supplementary work" is a work prepared for publication as a secondary adjunct
to a work by another author for the purpose of introducing, concluding,
illustrating, explaining, revising, commenting upon, or assisting in the use of
the other work, such as forewords, afterwords, pictorial illustrations, maps,
charts, tables, editorial notes, musical arrangements, answer material for
tests, bibliographies, appendixes, and indexes, and an "instructional text" is a
literary, pictorial, or graphic work prepared for publication and with the
purpose of use in systematic instructional activities. 

The authors of a joint work are co-owners of the copyright in the work, unless
there is an agreement to the contrary. 

Copyright in each separate contribution to a periodical or other collective work
is distinct from copyright in the collective work as a whole and vests initially
with the author of the contribution.

Two General Principles 

 *  Mere ownership of a book, manuscript, painting, or any other copy or
phonorecord does not give the possessor the copyright. The law provides that
transfer of ownership of any material object that embodies a protected work does
not of itself convey any rights in the copyright.

 *  Minors may claim copyright, but state laws may regulate the business
dealings involving copyrights owned by minors. For information on relevant state
laws, consult an attorney. 

-=-=-=-=-

WHAT COPYRIGHT IS

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States
(title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of "original works of authorship" including
literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works.
This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section
106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the
exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following: 

 *  To reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords; 

 *  To prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work; 

 *  To distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public
by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending; 

 *  To perform the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical,
dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other
audiovisual works; 

 *  To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical,
dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or
sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other
audiovisual work; and 

 *  In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a
digital audio transmission. 

In addition, certain authors of works of visual art have the rights of
attribution and integrity as described in section 106A of the 1976 Copyright
Act. For further information, request Circular 40, "Copyright Registration for
Works of the Visual Arts." 

It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright
code to the owner of copyright. These rights, however, are not unlimited in
scope. Sections 107 through 120 of the 1976 Copyright Act establish limitations
on these rights. In some cases, these limitations are specified exemptions from
copyright liability. One major limitation is the doctrine of "fair use," which
is given a statutory basis in section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act. In other
instances, the limitation takes the form of a "compulsory license" under which
certain limited uses of copyrighted works are permitted upon payment of
specified royalties and compliance with statutory conditions. For further
information about the limitations of any of these rights, consult the copyright
code or write to the Copyright Office.

-=-=-=-=-

WHAT IS NOT PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

Several categories of material are generally not eligible for Federal copyright
protection. These include among others: 

 *  Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression, (for
example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or
improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or
recorded). 

 *  Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere
variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings
of ingredients or contents.  

 *  Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles,
discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or
illustration. 

 *  Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and
containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and
weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public
documents or other common sources). 

11/10/98
U.S. Copyright Office
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20559-6000

[email protected]
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ1.html
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/title17/1-101.html

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