Symposium 03 made me hungry.

Currrryyyyyy for dayzzz

If this week’s network media symposium was a colour then it would be grey. I was hoping I would be able to absorb black and white facts about what is legal and what is not. Admittedly I left the lecture theatre with less clarity of the law and hungrier then when I entered it. As a result of my red Thai chicken curry the latter was satisfied however I finished dinner with the urge to know more and importantly the urge to play Mario Kart 64. Additionally the fear placed inside my soul from stories of everyday people having to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars due to copyright breaches was difficult to ignore.  So following my victory of the mushroom cup I did some independent research.

Here is what I came up with:

Can I use copyrighted protected material on my blog?

I must ask permission off the owner to use copyrighted protected material if I can’t rely on the fair dealing exception. It some cases written agreement is necessary but often verbal permission is fine. Although having a written agreement is a good idea as then the terms of use are clear to everyone.

Can I use quotes on my blog?

Generally short phrases, names, titles slogans are too short to attract copyright attention. So I may use quotes that are not a substantial part of the original literary work or if the literary work it came from is no longer protected under copyright. =

Can you copyright an idea?

Copyright laws only protect the material form of an idea not the idea itself. However someone may protect an idea in the form of a patent. These are generally use to protect inventions so things that are completely new and novel.

Does Creative Commons (CC) help?

Yes. Click here to learn more.

Who owns copyright to my blog comments?

When someone comments they are most liking giving me and implied licence for the display of the comments.  But for clarification there is a Creative Commons licence for that page.

Can I rely of Fair Use in defence if I use someone else’s work?
No. That’s an American thing. However in Australia, the Copyright Act provides “fair dealing” exceptions for the purpose of research or study, criticism or review, parody or satire, and reporting news. Its somewhat grey.

Can I provide links to another website?
Yes but I should take extra care. I can link to another website as long as it does not breach the website’s or other blogger’s copyright.

I’ll provide more information on moral rights, defamation and maybe even curry in my next post.

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