How are US Intellectual Property Laws Unique?
It’s probably fair to say that throughout most of the civilized world, copyright laws are kind of built on the same skeleton, more or less. The author or owner of a given work has certain exclusive rights with regards to publishing, distribution, copying, and making derivative versions of that work. However, the copyright laws, from country to country, and in some countries, from state to state, province to province, or jurisdiction to jurisdiction, the laws can vary in subtle ways.
These little subtleties might not seem like a huge deal, and to be completely honest, ninety percent of the time, you can skate right on by them and not worry about it. However, these little details can also put you in some pretty hot water ten percent of the time. As we all know, the field of law, and especially law regarding intellectual property, is largely dependent on tiny little oversights and so on. We live in an era where a filing error can result in a property worth millions being handed to the wrong person. If you have any interest in distribution, publishing, creating original work, or heck, even photographing famous tourist attractions, you should be familiar with the little bits and pieces of copyright law that may be unique to the area where you are doing any of these things.
If you are on a trip to the US for the first time, here’s something you should know about photography within the United States; In the US, thanks to certain laws governing personal privacy, you need to get a release form from everyone appearing in film or photography taken in a public place before you can legally publish that footage or photograph, even on a personal website. In lieu of a written, signed release form, the publisher or distributor is required to blur out the face of anyone who has not signed such a form, so as to protect their identity.
It seems like a silly step, and, certainly it’s usually not the kind of thing anyone would bother to press charges against you for, and it’s not the kind of thing that will matter if nobody winds up pressing charges, but it’s something to keep in mind, nonetheless.
Another major difference between the US and the rest of the world, regarding copyright and intellectual property law, would be the Fair Use Doctrine. The founding principle upon which the United States was founded is personal freedom. Thanks to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, a vital American right is the ability to say literally anything you want (well, short of say, threatening to kill someone, etcetera). By way of the Fair Use Doctrine, this first right amendment extends not only to criticism of politicians, laws, and public figures, but also to criticism of art, literature, and entertainment. Fair Use covers any and all parody which targets the character of an original work, and Fair Use also protects any use of a work for educational purposes.
Note that Fair Use isn’t really a bullet-proof shield if you’re not actually using a work for parody or education. So you can’t, say, remake a movie without authorization from the original author, and then throw in a couple of jokes and call it a parody. The humor and criticism within the movie have to actually be targeting the essence of the original work. Likewise, you can’t screen a movie, charge admission, and call it education. You have to actually include the film in some sort of a lesson plan, you have to actually be offering an educational experience.
Other major countries have their own unique copyright laws, as well. Again, most of these differences are actually pretty small in the long run, but if you don’t watch yourself, one little oversight can have a ripple effect, and what counts as parody in one country might wind up counting as copyright infringement in another. What is public domain in one country might be legally owned by someone in another country. Wherever you are, if you plan on publishing, creating, distributing, or copying anything, it’s a good idea to know what, exactly, you can get away with in that country as opposed to other countries.
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