Public Performance Rights for Small Societies

Why a society screening counts as a performance

Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression. The federal page lists many forms, including paintings, photographs, illustrations, musical compositions, sound recordings, computer programs, books, poems, blog posts, movies, architectural works, and plays.

For your season, the key point is narrow. The owner can reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords, prepare derivative works based upon it, distribute copies to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease or lending, and authorize others to exercise these exclusive rights, subject to certain statutory limitations. Alongside those rights, the owner of a literary, musical, dramatic, or choreographic work, a pantomime, or a motion picture or other audiovisual work can perform it in public. You meet that last right every time you run a show outside a private home.

What makes a film protected in the first place

A work is original when it is independently created by a human author and has a minimal degree of creativity. Independent creation means you create it yourself, without copying. The Supreme Court has said that, to be creative, a work must have a spark and a modicum of creativity.

Some things do not meet that test, such as titles, names, short phrases, and slogans, familiar symbols, or designs, mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring, and mere listings of ingredients or contents. Copyright protects expression and never ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, or discoveries. A work is fixed when it is captured, either by or under the authority of an author, in a sufficiently permanent medium so that it can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated for more than a short time, for example, when you write it down or record it.

Who actually holds the right you must clear

Everyone is a copyright owner once an original work is created and fixed, for example, when taking a photograph, writing a poem or a blog post, or recording a new song. At that point, you are the author and the owner. Companies, organizations, and other people besides the creator can also own copyright.

Under the works made for hire doctrine, a work created by an employee within the scope of employment is owned by the employer. The doctrine also applies to certain independent contractor relationships, in the case of specific types of commissioned works. Ownership can also come from contracts such as assignments or from other types of transfers such as wills and bequests. That is why the name on the disc or file tells you little. For volunteer societies, as a clearance routine, follow the chain through the current claimant rather than the name in the opening credits.

Which rights meet inside a small hall

A single evening can touch several exclusive rights at once. Reproduction covers the copy, distribution covers how that copy reached you, and public performance covers the act of playing the motion picture before an audience. The law treats display separately. The owner of a literary, musical, dramatic, or choreographic work, a pantomime, or a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work can display it in public, and this right also applies to the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work. An additional right covers public performance by means of a digital audio transmission if the work is a sound recording.

The federal overview of exclusive rights sets out each right in the same order, with the limits that apply to authorization of others. Congress has had the power since the founding under Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution to secure exclusive rights for limited times, and Congress passed the first federal copyright law in 1790 and has updated it through the years. Reading that history helps you see why a license for a public show is separate from ownership of a physical copy.

When can you show a film without asking

You are not only a programmer. When you read books, watch movies, listen to music, or use video games or software, you are using copyright-protected works. Even if you are not the owner, you may still be able to use a work. Besides buying or licensing a work or some other way of seeking permission, you can use one of the exceptions and limitations in the Copyright Act or rely on works in the public domain.

The exceptions and limitations in sections 107 to 122 of the Act include fair use, the first sale doctrine, some reproductions by libraries and archives, certain performances and displays, and broadcast programming transmissions by cable and satellite. The complete list appears in Chapter 1 of Title 17 of the United States Code, and the Copyright Office points readers to its Fair Use Index for more on fair use. Sourcing a print or DCP does not answer this legal question by itself, so keep the print search and the rights search on two separate tracks.

Does a cutoff date settle the public domain question

Works in the public domain are those never protected, such as facts or discoveries, or works whose term has ended either because it expired or because the owner did not satisfy a previously required formality. The federal page states that all works published in the United States before January 1, 1931, are currently in the public domain because protection has expired for those works.

That date helps with early titles, but it does not clear most repertory seasons by itself. A later film can still be protected, a restored version can carry its own claim, and music or script elements can have their own terms. The Copyright Office page does not list a fee for any society license.

How long does protection last for newer work

The length depends on when a work was created. Under the current law, works created on or after January 1, 1978, have a term of the life of the author plus seventy years after the author's death. If the work is a joint work, the term lasts for seventy years after the death of the last surviving author. For works made for hire and anonymous or pseudonymous works, protection is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter. Works created before 1978 have a different timeframe.

Registration does not create the right, which exists automatically once an original work is fixed, but the owner can strengthen protection by registering. Registration is not mandatory, yet, for United States works, registration or refusal is necessary to enforce the exclusive rights through litigation. Timely registration also allows owners to seek certain types of monetary damages and attorney fees in a lawsuit and provides a presumption that information on the registration certificate is correct. Registration also helps the public by facilitating the licensing marketplace, by allowing people to find ownership information, by giving notice that someone claims protection, and by preserving a record of national creativity. There is only one place to register claims in the United States: the Copyright Office.

What should you write down before you book

Other forms of intellectual property do not decide your screening. A utility patent granted by the government protects certain inventions or processes, a design patent protects designs for articles of manufacture, a plant patent protects plant varietals, trademark law protects words, names, symbols, or devices used as a source identifier on goods and services, and trade secret law protects valuable commercial information kept secret. They are different from copyright, so focus your inquiry on the copyright owner and the public performance right.

The Copyright Office also records documents about copyright in a process known as Recordation, where the Office reviews and accepts documents and keeps a record of the documents submitted. It covers transfers of ownership, other documents relating to a copyright, and notices of termination that authors or their heirs use when ending certain transfers or licenses. Statutory licenses form another set of limits in the Act and relate to certain uses of musical compositions, sound recordings, and cable and satellite programming. For your next title, note the year of creation, the publication history, and the current claimant shown in Copyright Office records, then seek written permission for public performance before you advertise the date.

The U.S. Copyright Office is the federal office that administers copyright claims and records. Its What Is Copyright page explains originality, fixation, ownership, exclusive rights, duration, fair use and related limits, registration, recordation, and public domain status. Use that page to check the shape of the performance right and to find out how to contact the Public Information Office by form, by phone, or in person in Washington.