When Does a Copyright Arise – 1.2?
Under current Copyright Law, a copyright arises automatically when two (2) prerequisites have been satisfied.
First, the Content (also known as the “work,” or “material,”) must be original, independently created by a human, and contain a modicum of creativity. Copyright protection does not extend to ideas, concepts, discoveries, principles, formulas, processes, systems, methods, procedures, and words or short phrases such as titles of books or songs, slogans, names, or short phrases.
Second, the work must be fixed in a perceivable form capable of human perception. Humans must be able to “see,” “hear,’ or otherwise perceive the work. For instance, it can be written by paper and pen, computer text, or scored for a musical composition on sheet music that can be read, recorded on a CD or in an electronic file such as an MP4, or expressed on canvas or other surface by putting brush to canvas.
To be clear, current Copyright Law automatically gives the Creator all copyright rights to the Content once that original Content is put into tangible and fixed format that can be seen, heard, or otherwise perceived. The Creator does notneed to prove publication, nor mail herself anything, nor apply to the U.S. Copyright Office for a registration of copyright, nor do anything other than create an original work that is fixed in a way that can be seen, heard, or perceived by humans.
