The Purpose of Copyrights As established in Article I Section 8 of the US Constitution copyright law protects creative efforts in order to encourage the growth of human knowledge Copyrights give the creators of intellectual and artistic works exclusive rights for a limited time that allow them to control how their works are used George Washington signed the first US copyright law in 1790 Over the years the law has been revised several times The last major revision of copyright law took place in 1976 with several smaller revisions since then The changes have broadened the scope of copyright changed the duration of copyright protection and addressed new technologies that complicated the existing copyright laws All forms of original creative expression are eligible for copyright protection as long as they can be written on paper recorded painted sculpted put into a computer or created in some other permanent format This includes literary works musical works dramatic works pantomimes and choreographic If you can see it read it watch it or hear it with or without the use of a computer projector or other machine the work is likely eligible for copyright protection 4 Kenneth Crews copyright scholar works pictorial graphic and sculptural works motion pictures and other audiovisual works sound recordings and architectural works US copyright law dates back to 1790 when George Washington signed the first such law into effect 8
FROM THE HEADLINES GIRL SCOUTS AND THE FREEDOM TO SING SONGS Copyright Copyright infringement of musical works can be a costly mistake as the Blurred Lines case proved In 1996 even the Girl Scouts were targeted for what at first seemed to be a costly infringement According to US copyright law songwriters can collect royalties when their copyrighted works are used in public performances On behalf of its members the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers ASCAP collects royalties from users such as radio stations restaurants and dance clubs Each company pays from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars a year for the right to use copyrighted songs In 1995 ASCAP informed the American Camping Association that it would have to pay a licensing fee for any copyrighted music performed at its more than 2,000 camps nationwide That included music performed by Girl Scouts staying at American Camping Association sites Singing songs around a campfire is a tradition for Girl Scouts But many Girl Scout groups could not afford the licensing fees so 10
Campfire sing-alongs were a Girl Scout tradition until copyrights got involved they had to eliminate copyrighted music from their sing-alongs In the resulting 1996 media storm news programs featured sad video of Girl Scouts performing the Macarena the year’s biggest dance craze without music And newspapers featured stories about bans on such campfire favorites as Puff the Magic Dragon and This Land Is Your Land In view of the negative publicity ASCAP backed down saying it had only meant to charge professional musicians performing at large resorts The organization agreed to return any fees it had collected from Girl Scout camps 11
