Copyright plays two fundamental roles. First, copyright encourage people to be more creative and this increases knowledge. Granting the original owners exclusive rights over the created work, for a certain time encourage more creativity.Persons whose copyright is infringed can bring an action for damages and seek an order of injunction against violation of their copyrights(Bouchoux, 2012).
In the modern world, various things are copyrightable. The law only protects the original work of the author(Bouchoux, 2012). The work does not need be so original and highly creative.At the same time, the work must have a direct connection to the author.Although facts are not copyrightable, the style and the words used to express them are copyrightable. For work to qualify for copyright, it must meet certain criteria. For instance, the workproduced must be understandable and be communicated overtime. The work must also be easy to reproduce.Data, which pre-existed is copyrightable if arranged in a way that shows the final product belongs to the author. Examples of things that can be copy righted includeworks of literature, paintings, photographs, films and music with its lyrics.
Tito Puene’s music was copyrightablethe reason being that it was his original idea, which he compiled and produced and was capable to be reproduced and be communicated over time. Rita’s claim that the use of the video was not infringement of copyright but a fair use can stand. There is sufficient evidence for Rita to back her claim.Section 107 of the U.S copyright laws states that Fair use is available as a defense where one used the copyrighted work for educational purposes(Bouchoux, 2012).Rita used Puene’s 30 seconds video for educational purposes to give her work a Latin flair as her work contained many highlights of rabbits from Latin countries. Section 107 of the same act; provide that where a person has only used a negligible portion of the work, one can plead the doctrine of fair use as a defense.
Rita used 30 seconds video clip from Puene’s 4 minutessong. This portion is so small to amount to infringement of copyright. Rita did not take the central theme in Puene’s music but only used a 30 seconds video clip to give a Latin effect to her work.Rita’s motives were innocent and not parodying. Puene’s music did not suffer any loss in value in the market becauseof Rita using the thirty seconds clip and there is no infringement of copyright.Puene will reject Rita’s claim, by arguing that the 30 seconds music clip formed the central theme of his music and it was a substantial amount in terms of quality.As well, Rita failed to ask for permission from him as required by the law.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a statute, enacted to protect service providers from monetary claims brought against them by third party (Bouchoux, 2012).You tube was faithful to the act since once it was served with a notice to takedown the video clip by Puene it did so urgently as required by section 512 of DMCA. Both Rita and You tube will be successful in their defenses. Rita has enough evidence that her use of the Puene’s 30 seconds video clip was for educational purposes and was not profit making. Secondly, she only used a small portion of Puene’s video to give a Latin flair of her work because of its nature.This is enough proof that it was a fair use and not infringement of Puene’s copyrights. You tube will also be successful as it acted inaccordance to DMCA by receiving the notice and taking Rita’s work down.
In conclusion, copyrights play a vital role in encouraging creativity in the society. Any person wishing to rely on someone else work must get his or her permission first. There are several elements, which a person who claims his or her copyright is infringed must prove. For example, the effect of the copyrighted works in the market. DMCA protect services provider from monetary claims from third parties.
Reference
Bouchoux, D. E. (2012). Intellectual property: The law of trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. Cengage Learning.