On 10/9/98, Cappone D'Angelo <cappyd[_at_]uvic.ca> wrote:
>
> Fixation Fixation Fixation! If it can't be fixed, it can't be copied.
> How could copyright be granted to something which can't be copied?
>
> 1. A musical work as fixed in sheetmusic is reproducible.
> 2. A sound recording as fixed on cd, DAT, cassette etc. is reproducible.
> 3. A musical performance is not fixed and is not reproducible.
>
> - 1 & 2 may attract copyright protection.
> - 3 can not.
As others have explained, this is simply false. For copyright to subsist fixation is required. Once copyright exists in a work the owner has various exclusive rights. One of those rights is public performance. Therefore, if I write a piece of music, it is fixed on paper and copyrighted. I have the exclusive right to reproduce the music (on other sheets of paper or other media). I also have the exclusive right to publicly perform the music (embodied on the paper). I do not have a copyright in the performance (although it may be possible as a separate work), but I can legally challenge anyone who does.
In the fireworks example the public display of the work was fixed on paper (or in a computer program or somewhere), just as music might be or dance might be, some sort of notation as to how the work would be displayed (just as how the music would be played). That is the work, and to the extent that it meets the other standards for copyrightability, it would be protected. Any public performance/display of it by someone other than the copyright owner or a licensee would be a potential infringement.
(Also, lest anyone be confused, the standard for copying someone else's work is not like a photocopy. It is substantial similarity, a legal test that purports to decide how similar the "copy" is to the original.)
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