up
267

Using Internet Content Fairly

While much media on the Internet is freely accessible, most belongs to someone, and an owner’s rights should be respected. Take care to pay for materials that are not free, and to give credit for everything you use, free or not. (See “Avoiding Plagiarism” on pages 392–395.) The following information will guide your use of Internet content.

  • Copyright is legal ownership of a written work, a performance, a software program, a movie, and so on. It is automatically granted by law at the time a work is created. (For example, when you write a paper for school, you own the copyright to that paper.) Many publications include a formal declaration of copyright statement using the word “copyright” or a © symbol.

Note: Copyright law protects works for a limited period of time. After copyright expires, a work enters the public domain, and anyone can use it for free. Visit Gutenberg.org and Librivox.org for examples of public-domain properties.

 
  • A trademark is a legally recognized symbol, word, or phrase representing a brand, a property, or even an organization. Your favorite soft drink probably has a “registered trademark”—indicated by a ® character. A ™ indicates a trademark is not yet registered.

Note: Although many companies prefer that you include a or (whichever is appropriate) when referring to their brand names, this is not legally necessary. (See The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, section 8.152.)

 
  • A patent is a legal right to a unique idea, usually an invention. Patents in the United States are awarded by the U.S. Patent Office. Products granted patents must display their patent numbers to ensure protection. “Patent pending” means that a patent has been applied for but not yet awarded.
  • An open-source license or a creative-commons statement is a declaration that material is free to use and distribute, as long as any copyright and license statement remains with that material. Some licenses also allow the material to be modified or added to. Often, an open-source license requires that adaptations remain free to the public.
 

Your Turn Notice how many copyright statements, trademarks, registered trademarks, patents, and open-source licenses you encounter in a day’s time. Then research the topic of open-source licenses more fully online. Write a journal entry explaining your thoughts about what you noticed during the day and learned from your subsequent research.

 
up

Additional Resources

Web site: Copyright & Fair Use, Stanford U. Library

Web site: U.S. Copyright Office

Web page: Trademark, Merriam-Webster

Web site: Trademarks Home, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Web site: Patents, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Web page: The Open Source Definition, Open Source Initiative

Web site: Creative Commons