User:Medler29/Sandbox

Web Design encompasses many types of content and media that is created, borrowed, or redesigned and posted on the Internet for all to access. Web pages can be developed for commercial or noncommercial use as well as for a wide range of user bases. With the diverse number of laws and guidelines pertaining to media, it is important for a web designer to understand the rights and repercussions of everything added to a web page in order to prevent unwanted backlash. Described in detail below are guidelines and information that can be used to protect oneself from being sued as well as protecting one's own content from misuse.

Intellectual Property Law
Intellectual property law has grown over the years with new acts (e.g., the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998), amendments to existing acts, and case law. With each different type of media outlet there has been a modification of the rules that govern intellectual property. The introduction of the Internet has brought on a slew of new issues and controversy has grown over how existing rules regulations should apply to the World Wide Web. The characteristics and guidelines below address pertinent issues applicable to web design and posting information to the Internet.

Copyright
Copyright law is in place to protect "original works of authorship" such as literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other forms of creations.

According to the U.S. Copyright Office, a copyright holder, and only the copyright holder, has the following rights:  to reproduce the work to prepare derivative works to distribute copies by selling, leasing, renting, or licensing the work to display the work publicly to perform the work publicly  

Copyright is established once a work is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. No formal registration is required. However, registration will facilitate protecting copyrighted material in cases of infringement.

Copyrights last for the life of the author plus 70 years. If there are two authors, the copyright lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author. As soon as copyright protection ends, the works in question are considered to be in the public domain. Copyright holders can choose to add their works to the public domain at their discretion as well.

Patents
Patents are mostly applied to new inventions in order to prevent reverse engineering. This stops competitors from copying the basic principles of an invention and selling it as their own.

According to patent law, anyone who “invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent."

Unlike copyrights, patents do need to be registered in order to be valid.

Also, patents last a far shorter time than copyrights. This form of protection typically lasts for 20 years, with a few exceptions such as design patents (14 years).

Trademarks
Trademarks and servicemarks are used to distinguish certain goods and services from other possible substitutes. The laws applied to these distinctive marks are in place to prevent competitors from using a similar mark, but not to prevent competitors from making or selling the same goods or services.

Trademarks do not need to be registered, but there are many legal benefits that come with registering. The duration of a trademark depends on the year it is registered and the rights that apply to a trademark depend on it being registered or not. Refer to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for further information.

Fair Use Guidelines
With so many works protected under copyright law it is difficult to know the point at which one needs to ask for permission from the copyright holder. Copyright law contains a section about fair use. Certain reproductions and uses of work are considered fair and do not require prior permission from the rights holder. These types of work include criticism, comments, news reports, teaching, scholarship, or research. If a copyrighted work is it be used without permission, four factors need to be taken into account:

 Purpose of use Nature of work</li> <li>Portion of work used</li> <li>Effect of use on market or value of original work </li> </ol>

The fair use guidelines do not specify a set number of words one is allowed to borrow from a copyrighted work. This is why it is important to pay close attention to these guidelines. Deciding whether a work is being used fairly is a very ambiguous task.

Web Page Characteristics & Guidelines
It is important to take certain steps in order to ensure compliance with copyright laws. Susan P. Butler, a new-media and entertainment attorney, describes these four steps in her article titled, "Stay on the Right Side of Copyright Laws", published in MacWorld. <ol> <li>Decide how someone else's work will be used</li> <li>Decide how work will be distributed</li> <li>Decide in which countries the media will be available</li> <li>Decide how long the work will be used </li> </ol>

Listed below are the main categories web designers should be aware of when publishing a web site.

Content
Being careful with using another person's content is very important in any type of media outlet. While facts and history cannot be copyrighted, specific sentences and ideas can be claimed. Sources must be referenced and ideas should not be claimed as one's own unless they are purely original.

In addition to ensuring content is original, it is also important to pay attention to the truth. Defamation on the internet is not as enforced as when it appears through other media avenues, but creators of libelous statements on the internet are still subject to liability for their actions. There have been many instances where users have been sued for libelous remarks on web pages and even remarks included in emails.

The good news for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) is that, according to Barrett v. Rosenthal, republication of libelous content does not make them liable. Only the creator of the libelous content on a web site can be sued for his/her actions. This provides a World Wide Web where information can be forwarded without the fear of being sued for republishing someone else's statement.

The news media is somewhat exempt from misappropriation. When covering the news, whether one is charging a fee or not, anyone's name or image is fair game for publication. According to Major Principles of Media Law, "news coverage is not a form of misappropriation".

In summary, refrain from: <ul> <li>Copying someone else's content/code</li> <li>Claiming someone else's idea as one's own </li> <li>Posting original libelous statements </li> </ul>

Audio
Digitally broadcasting audio over the internet is more expensive than broadcasting over ordinary AM and FM stations. Regular AM and FM radio stations are only required to pay royalties to owners of music copyrights such as: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) or Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). However, in 1995, the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act forced internet broadcasters to pay additional royalties to record companies. The Copyright Office also imposed more restrictions on digital broadcasts: <ul> <li>Cannot stream more than three songs from one artist's album</li> <li>Cannot stream more than four songs by a single artist in a period of three hours</li> <li>Cannot indentify a song before it is played </li> </ul>

The Copyright Royalty Board has increased rates and have also added additional fees that do not take the size of the audience into account. Through the years broadcasters have been seeking help from Congress to lower the high fees and royalties that they are expected to pay. Unfortunately, web casters have not received much relief and are usually paying more per listener per song than even satellite radio stations.

Private websites that use one or two songs are still subject to copyright laws. Do not use a song or audio recording unless the correct royalties have been paid or permission from the correct copyright holder has been received. Producing one's own audio is the safest way to use sound on a web site.

Images
Images are very pertinent to a website. Not only do they keep the readers interested, but they also help to tell the story. Using one's own original images is the best way to stay away from copyright infringement. But, creating original graphics for every instance one is needed isn't feasible for non-artistic people or someone who does not have the time to create their own original work.

Including someone else's image in a website is considered infringement even if the borrowed image is linked to the other person's website. The use of that image is still a crime because a user could mistake the image as the website owner's original work.

Starting with someone else's graphic and changing it, whether significantly or insignificantly, is also a form of infringement. One of the five rights granted to copyright holders is the right to prepare derivative works. It is not okay for someone to take someone else's work, modify it, and call it his/her own.

Finding graphics in the public domain has been made easier by many websites that offer royalty-free graphics for use. Take advantage of these opportunities and refrain from using any type of image that came from someone else unless permission has been received or royalties have been paid.

Videos
The same copyright rules that apply to content, images, and audio also apply to videos. If the video isn't completely one's original work (including the audio embedded in the video), using it is a copyright infringement.

YouTube has been sued multiple times for the infringing actions of it's users. But, because the site takes down infringing material and has it's own internal filtering system to prevent copyright infringement, it cannot be held liable for it's users actions.

Private websites that use videos, however, can be held liable for breaking the law. If creating original videos for every instance needed is not feasible then it is important to ask the creator for permission or pay royalty fees. YouTube explains the rules for using it's videos through the terms of service on their website. Make sure to follow up with the video creator as well as the audio provider to guarantee that copyright rules will not be broken if used.

Software / Code
A significant, controversial case involving DeCSS software helped to clarify the guidelines of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). DeCSS software defeats the copy-prevention features on DVDs, which allows them to be copied. Surprisingly, the case was not about the DeCSS software. It was about the 2600 Enterprises website linking to websites overseas that offered the DeCSS software. The court ruled that banning the software as well as posting information about the software does not violate the First Amendment.

From a boarder perspective, using someone else's software without permission or paying fees is a violation of copyright. Illegally downloading software to use on a the internet is a bad idea.

In addition to software, it is important to note that using code from anyone else's website is also a violation. Code can include anything from content to JavaScript and everything in between. It is easy to retrieve source code from any website, but just because it is available, does not mean it is right to use it. Any snippet of code can be protected by copyright, so copying someone else's code into a different website is just like stealing a phrase or idea from another person's content. If using others' code is a necessity then ask the Webmaster for permission or check to see if it resides in the public domain.

Linking
Links are what connect all internet pages together. They are the framework for the World Wide Web. But, linking can be considered infringement in certain cases.

As explained in the images section, using an IMG link to link to another person's image without permission is a form of infringement. Passing off someone else's work as one's own through a link is also considered infringement. Even if the creator did not realize that the link was a violation, it is still breaking the law if the end user is led to believe that someone else's work belongs to another. Be careful, because links can easily mislead users to think that they are being linked to another part of the same website. Clearly identify external links when credit is due. In addition, the use of trademarks on a web site that link to the trademark owner's page can be dangerous. It is always important to receive permission before using anyone else's trademark, even if the image is being linked to his/her page.

Deep linking refers to linking to pages deep within a site instead of linking to the opening home page. There have been many cases where businesses have sued someone for bypassing their home page which is filled with advertisements that they want all users to see. Ticketmaster sued Microsoft Corporation in 1997 for deep linking to one of the pages within the Ticketmaster website. In 1999, the case was settled and Microsoft agreed to stop linking to pages within the Ticketmaster site.

Framing
Framing (World Wide Web) can be a problem if it isn't set up properly. Wikipedia lists many criticisms for using frames. Not only can they cause many problems for the end user, but they can also bring on copyright issues for the creator. Framing another website's content into one's own page could be considered copyright infringement or defamation as well as passing off, which tricks the user into believing the content belongs to the site in question.

Currently, the law is not clear on framing someone else's material into one's own site. But, if frames are being used on a web site, steer clear of linking someone else's pages or content into the frame.

Metatags
Metatags are found in HTML code and their purpose is to provide concise summary information about a web page. The fact that metatag descriptions are hidden from the end user makes it easy for web designers to abuse their power. In fact, abusers of metatags are usually searching to manipulate search engines to favor their particular web site. The return for abusing is a site that shows up often on search engines or a better probability of having a site listed near the top of the return list.

Refrain from: <ul> <li> listing terms that have nothing to do with the site</li> <li> listing metatags multiple times</li> <li> embedding competitors' trademarks </li> </ul>

Partaking in any of these abuses could fall under false advertising in a court. Also, manipulating consumer behavior through hidden practices is unfair to competitors as well as users of the site. Misusing trademarks is especially dangerous. Refer to the Lanham Act of 1946 to learn more about trademark law.

Protecting Original Work
Protecting one's own original work is a good way to proactively avoid copyright infringement. Making others aware that a work is not in the public domain will decrease the confusion about whether or not they can use it legally. Listed below are a few strategies for protecting original work.

<ul> <li>Display copyright notice followed by the year and name of owner</li> <li>Protect private files by including a default index page under each file directory</li> <li>Regularly rename web pages in order to keep others from linking to the site through a frame</li> <li>Add digital watermarks to images and sounds</li> <li>Include hidden comment tags in HTML code</li> <li>Register work with major search engines </li> </ul>

Taking extra steps like these will help to decrease the probability of one's work being infringed upon as well as make it easier for one to discover infringement of his/her work.

What to do if Infringed Upon
No matter how many precautions one takes to protect his/her copyrighted works, there are still ample opportunities for infringers to access them on the Internet. Knowing how to deal with law violation situations is another form of protection.

The first step is to contact the person in question. Letting the person know that he/she is caught could be enough to turn the situation around. The infringer may not have known that the work was not in the public domain or many other explanations could be offered.

If a simple reminder does not stop the infringer than contacting the web host administrator would be the next step. Being able to prove ownership of the copyright is an important part of this step. It is also important to let the web host know that it is a serious matter.

If all else fails, legal action may be required to right the wrongs that have been made.

Criticism and Challenges
The idea behind copyright law is that if an artist doesn't benefit from his/her work, then motivation to create new, original material will decrease. Critics believe the opposite. Copyright laws are favoring copyright holders too much and because the law is so rigid, it is becoming more difficult to create new or derivative works. Also, the types of works that can be copyrighted have increased over the years. Reality television show formats, computer software, and even business processes can be copyrighted or patented now.

Not only is it hard to be original, but it is also a challenge to track down the copyright holder in order to get permission if needed. In addition, once the owner is contacted, it could take months or even years to get it approved. Currently, there are not any databases that can help to figure out what is copyrighted or even who owns the rights. It would be a huge help if it were easier to know if something was protected under the law as well as to know who could be contacted for permission.

There are many criticisms of intellectual property laws and many challenges that web designers are forced to face. A few years down the road, as court cases and changes to the law develop over time, there will be an entirely new set of rules and criticisms for the law pertaining to the Internet.