Kathy's Blog:
As I listened to the 10 myths video and the copyright basics that Joe Bustillos provided, the issue about how long a copyright lasts (lifetime+70 years for an author and 100 years for a company) triggered more questions that needed further investigation. I started thinking about all of the various pieces of fine art as well as illuminated manuscripts, and music that might fall outside of this guideline. For example, what about music written before 1900 such as: Bach to Brahms (ca. 1700-1900) or the use of a Requiem or chamber music for background music in a video for education? Or how about the masterpieces created by Donatello (1386-1466), Michelangelo (1475-1564), and da Vinci (1452-1519) all who died before 1900? Then there are the logo designs and the very beginnings of branding from the 1700 and 1800s such as family genealogy coats of arms or the coca-color script used for the logo/branding by John Pemberton in 1886 (Bellis); would these still fall into the category of copyright if one wanted to use those works to create something new for another purpose. Would we still have to gain permission from family members because the original copyright holder was no longer living, to use these items? And what about literature and a variety of authors such as TS Eliot, Virginia Woolf’s essays, or Shakespeare (circa 1558-1939)?
My Reply:
Kathy,
I agree! The more I learn about copyright issues, the more questions I seem to have. You made a great point about the art that was made before copyright law came into existence. Is that protected by copyright law automatically? Does Michelangelo's family receive requests to use his art? Do they receive royalty checks in the mail?
The question that I want to focus on is how are we to use copyright? Can we use pictures or logos that we see on the web, if it's for educational purposes? I would rather be safe than sorry. There are great websites which offer pictures to use for educational purposes.
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