Ransford Pyle's reply to Dodi Schultz in this thread mixes the fixation requirement with the requirement of copyrightable subject matter, with a couple of additional misunderstandings thrown in as well. I hope the following helps:
On Tue, 06 Jun 2000, Ransford Pyle <pyle[_at_]mail.ucf.edu> wrote:
>
> If, as I understand it, the ideas in my head are not copyrighted,
> when do they become fixed for the purpose of established copyright
> protection.
Never. Ideas are not protectable, not because they are unfixed, but because they are ideas. Copyright protects only original expression, not ideas.
> I made notes to myself while attending a conference, notes for me
> to work on later -- are these fixed? Doubtful, I think.
Yes they are. Words on paper (or on a computer disk) are always "fixed." They may be uncopyrightable for other reasons, but they meet the fixation requirement.
> On the other hand, if I make my usual cryptic notes on scraps of
> paper in preparation to write a paper for publication, are these
> fixed.
Yes, for the same reason.
> The fixation clause also uses the word 'tangible,' which suggests
> to me that tangible is not in itself the measure. Does fixation
> suggest a more or less permanent form?
Permanence doesn't enter into the analysis, partly because no tangible medium is reliably permanent. All that is required is fixation in a tangible medium, not permanence. Of course if you lose or destroy the only tangible form in which the work has been fixed, you are left with no proof of fixation, and are thus in a weak position when it comes to protecting your copyright. But then, if you had the only copy and destroyed it, who's going to be able to infringe in the first place?
> What part does intent play (a good old legal standby)? I often
> write in Word (as I am right now) with the intent to copy and
> paste to email or save to a webpage. Once I have put my words
> in its final format, I delete the original form, i.e., in Word
> format. Was the original temporary form analogous to ideas in
> my head?
No -- it was original expression fixed in a tangible medium and protected by copyright. So is the version that is fixed in its final format. Both are copyright-protected works.
> The answers to these questions, if in fact there are answers, may
> help clarify at what stage electronically transmitted expressions
> are protected. I don't think the accompanying code or transmittal
> information has anything to do with it except, perhaps, to show
> the author's intent. When I send this message, is it covered by
> copyright? [...] When I write it? When I press 'Send'? When it
> is put in a packet and transmitted? When you open your Inbox?
> When the first person reads it?
As the statute says, copyright protection attaches as soon as the work is fixed in a tangible medium (presumably a file on your hard drive). It doesn't matter when (or if) it is transmitted, or when (or whether) anyone else receives or reads it.
> (or what should I do to indicate copyright protection?) [...]
> Now I'll put a copyright notice at the end here.
It doesn't matter whether you put a copyright notice on your message or not. Notice is not required for copyright protection, and hasn't been for a couple of decades. Your message is protected by copyright because it is your original expression, which you first fixed in a tangible medium.
> Does that mean if you reply to this letter, incorporating what I
> wrote you are infringing my copyright?
It could; unless by sending this message to a listserv in which such replies are customary you gave me (and all of the rest of us) a license to re-use your words for the purpose of responding.
Bob
> Robert C. Cumbow
> Graham & Dunn, P.C.
> 1420 Fifth Avenue, 33rd Floor
> Seattle, Washington 98101-2390
> Phone: 206-340-9619
> Fax: 206-340-9599
> E-mail: rcumbow[_at_]grahamdunn.com
> Website: http://www.grahamdunn.com/
>
Big law firm experience without the big law firm experience.SM
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This email message may be protected by the attorney/client privilege,
work product doctrine or other confidentiality protection. If you
believe that it has been sent to you in error, do not read it. Please
reply to the sender that you have received the message in error. Then
delete it. Thank you.
Received on Wed Jun 07 2000 - 21:03:04 GMT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.2.0 : Mon Mar 26 2007 - 00:35:39 GMT