Video Games
Due to their complex and cross-cutting nature, video games present
a number of questions and challenges in terms of copyright.
The current landscape of the legal protection of video games
appears extremely complex indeed. Although Article 2 of the Berne
Convention provides a solid basis for eligibility for protection of
video games by copyright, they are in fact complex works of
authorship, potentially composed of multiple copyrighted works.
Modern video games contain at least two main parts:
audiovisual elements (including pictures, video recordings and
sounds); and
software, which technically manages the audiovisual elements
and permits users to interact with the different elements of the
game.
Computer Software
Copyright Law defines computer programs as literary work, and as
such is protectable under copyrights. For example, computer
programs are sets of instructions expressed in words, codes,
schemes or other forms, including a machine readable medium,
capable of causing a computer to perform a particular task or
achieve a particular result. The words, codes, schemes, or other
forms may be protected under Copyright law as creative works the
same as a book, a movie, or a work of art (and often to the coder,
the source code is a work of art).
Copyright protection extends for author’s lifetime plus 70 years. For
works made for hire, the term of the copyright is 95 years from first
publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.
Copyright protection is inherent at the time of creation and is
automatically protected, and may appear to be attractive and free
option to protect your software. Additionally, if you want to be able
to definitively define the date you created your creative work, you
can register your copyright with the Library of Congress.
It should be noted that copyright protects the expression of an idea
and not the idea itself. Hence, in the case of software programs, it is
the software program that is protected, and not the functionality of
the software programs. Unless you only want to protect exactly how
the source code is written, it may not be a good idea to rely solely
on copyright law to protect software related inventions. To protect
the functionality of the software programs you should seek patent
protection.
Books
In brief, copyright is a legal right that resides with the person who
has created a work – whether that is writing, art, music or any
other creative form – for the duration of the legal term of copyright,
which is during the creator’s lifetime plus 70 years after death for
literary works (for other types of work, different lengths of time
apply). This means that the creator has exclusive rights for the use
and dissemination of their work, and has the right to control
whether and how their work, or parts of their work, is used by
others. Copyright laws vary from country to country, although some
aspects of national copyright laws have been standardized through
international copyright agreements. See list of sources of further
information on copyright at the end of this blog.
What this means in the simplest terms is that no-one else is
permitted to use or reproduce someone else’s work in any way
without the express permission of the creator or their
representative. This applies to any reproduction of a work, whether
found in print or online. I will go into this in more detail in the
section on use of third-party copyright.
Films
Copyright protects the visual images and accompanying sounds of
'cinematographic films'. Cinematographic films includes feature
films, TV programs, documentaries, short films, home videos,
animated films and cartoons, television commercials, video
podcasts and some multimedia products such as computer games.
Television broadcasts are protected separately and include free-to-
air TV, pay TV, cable and satellite TV. For example, a TV program
such as The Simpsons is protected as a cinematographic film.
When The Simpsons is broadcast on Channel 10 an additional and
separate copyright is created in the broadcast.
Films and broadcasts may also include literary works, dramatic
works, musical works and/or sound recordings which have their
own copyright and are protected separately. Films are protected
regardless of their format, e.g. 16mm, film, video, DVD or digital
formats.
