Conclusion

Sarah F
Blog Entry # 4
July 18, 2009
LIS 855

“Copyright gives authors, artists and others the right to exclude others from using their works. Federal rights arise automatically when a protectable work has been fixed in a tangible medium such as a floppy disk or hard drive. A poem or picture is as much protected on a disk as on a piece of paper or canvas.” (http://www.piercelaw.edu/thomasfield/ipbasics/copyright-on-the-internet.php) Copyright effects individuals on a daily basis. We read print newspaper and internet news without ever giving a second thought to the copyright law that protects the information that we are reading or copying. News must be from a reputable source and be copyrighted in order to protect the author of the article regardless of the form in which it is presented. Copyright law in the U.S. is based on the Copyright Act of 1976, a federal statute that went into effect on January 1, 1978. (http://library.findlaw.com/1999/Jan/1/241476.html)

Newspapers are still read today even though many people subscribe to internet news sites. People expect to see newspapers available for purchase and viewing. I went to the New York Times web site and examined their copyright notification. It states that, “All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of The New York Times Company or in the case of third party materials, the owner of that content. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. However, you may download material from The New York Times on the Web (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal, noncommercial use only.” (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) I believe that print and internet news must follow guidelines in order to ensure that authors have their original works protected. Many times patrons at the library want to copy articles for their own use out of the print newspaper. This would be “Fair Use” of the materials. “One of the rights accorded to the owner of copyright is the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords. This right is subject to certain limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the copyright law. Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:
The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work
The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission.” (http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html) Patrons making photocopies of articles for their own use must be sure to follow the correct copyright laws when they are copying someone else’s work from a print newspaper. We know that print news is from a reputable source because if we look at the copyright agreements and information about the individual articles, each article is copy written. The newspaper owns the articles printed in their paper and there is a trademark and a copyright license and terms of agreement.

Internet news is very popular with the use of sites such as Yahoo News, MSNBC, Facebook, and Twitter plus print newspapers now offer their news online to customers who pay to subscribe. News can be reported on the internet from a reputable source but it can also be reported from a person writing their own story and taking their own pictures. These stories can be biased and have one opinion of the information reported upon. By clicking on the “I agree” button in the terms and conditions agreement you are agreeing to the web site’s information on copyright. Many consumers click on “I agree” before fully reading and understanding the user agreement. Internet news from a reputable source will also be protected under copyright and have a license and terms of agreement policy. The information will be from a reputable news source and it is delivered quickly to you via the internet. As consumers, you need to be aware of sites that offer news that is not supported by a reputable news agency or company. This news can be presented by others as reputable news but in fact is the author’s own opinions. Internet news should be approached cautiously to ensure that what is being read is correct.

Television, cell phones, and PDA’s are three other ways that news is transmitted to the public. Television news is the source people tend to rely upon because it has always been available and it is trusted by many consumers. Cell phones and PDA’s are also becoming devices that people use to get their news and communicate with others. We have recently seen countless pictures and news stories coming from individuals from their personal devices. These sources are not always reliable and they have personal opinions attached to the stories behind the pictures.

Copyright should be taken seriously. Consumers do not understand the importance of following copyright laws and rules to protect works that others have written. Print newspapers are becoming a thing of the past and that leaves consumers to rely up on the internet and television for their news. Internet news must be told from a reputable source in order to prolong its existence. Consumers want to keep up with technology so they can get the fastest news that is just a click away. Patrons need to be aware of the news difference and make sure that they are getting their news from a reputable source by checking the license, terms and agreement, and privacy policy of each individual web site that they use for their news source.

Bibliography:
Pierce Law . 2008. Pierce Law Center. 18 July 2009. http://www.piercelaw.edu/thomasfield/ipbasics/copyright-on-the-internet.php.

New York Times. 2009. New York Times Company. 18 July 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html.

Find Law. 2009. Find Law, a Thomas Reuters business. 18 July 2009. http://library.findlaw.com/1999/Jan/1/241476.html.

United States Copyright Office.15 Jul. 2009. U.S. Copyright Office. 18 July 2009. http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html.