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Does copyright restrain imagination?
I was wondering, can someone copyright his imagination? O.o
You might wanna' see this question, the current question arises from that: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=201312...
Please let me explain. Say you create a fictional superhero called SuperJerry that is a flying mouse with capes on etc. Now you copyright it so no one can download or use images of SuperJerry. Now, say I download some images of SuperJerry and become a fan of it. I sometimes daydream that I am flying with SuperJerry.
Now you can charge me for downloading the image of SuperJerry. But can you also charge me for imagining SuperJerry as well?
I mean, does anyone have any right to tell me what I can imagine and what not? So does the "restriction of copying and using" also apply for copying in my mind and using it in my mind or does that only apply for physical usage?
Sorry if the question is too weird, but I have been doing some hypothetical thinking and for that the answer is needed.
Cheers.
Give me a break, the term "SuperJerry" is already taken..... Anyways, that was just an example :D
2 Answers
- Nuff SedLv 77 years agoFavorite Answer
Copyright has nothing to do with what you do in your own mind. Copyright gives the owners of the copyright the exclusive right to reproduce copies, distribute copies, prepare copies containing derivative works, publicly perform a copy, publicly display a copy, or digitally transmit a copy (of music) for public performance.
The main objective of the copyright law is to grant an exclusive ECONOMIC right to the copyright owners, as well as some moral right to claim ownership of some types of works. Only the "creative work of original expression" is protected, meaning others only have limited rights to use them without permission.
You mention "downloading", which is one way people distribute copies. If you posted your creative works online, that constitutes a "license" for everyone in the entire universe to download a copy, or multiple copies, even to save a copy, but only for their own personal, private use -- not to distribute.
Under US copyright law, the statute says, specifically, that copyright does NOT include "any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work." 17 USC § 102(b).
Once a person has seen your original works, the ideas and concepts are free to distribute in any OTHER form that does not "copy" your original expression.
Source(s): copyright.gov
