Jun 23 2009
Copyright Quiz by Leslen Ellen Harris
My thanks to Lesley Ellen Harris for permission to repost her copyright quiz. The original quiz can be found on her blog, Copyright Laws.Com, www.copyrightlawscom.blogspot.com
AW: If you are planning an online publication, pay close attention to question #4 and the relevant comment at the end of the quiz.
Test your knowledge on international copyright principles.
True or False?
1. Copyright law is the same throughout the world. T F
2. The leading copyright convention is the Berne Convention. T F
3. All countries have the same copyright duration: life + 50 or fifty years after the author’s death. T F
4. If you have permission to reproduce an image in one country, you may not reproduce the image in a different country. T F
5. Once you have copyright protection in Canada or the U.S. you automatically have protection in most countries around the world. T F
6. There is an international copyright registry where anyone may file an application for worldwide copyright protection. T F
7. A license for the use of digital content must be subject to the laws of your own country to be valid. T F
8. The way that international copyright law works is that you apply the copyright law of your own country i.e., the law of the country where the work is being copied. T F
9. All countries protect the reputation of an author of a copyright-protected work in perpetuity in terms of the author being able to claim authorship and prevent modifications of his work that may be prejudicial to his honor or reputation. T F
10. Digital copyright issues are treated in a universal manner subject to a single copyright treaty, whereas analogue copyright issues are dealt with on a country-by-country basis. T F
Answers are below.
This quiz was created May 5, 2009.
Copyright Copyrightlaws.com 2009
Answers: 1F, 2T, 3F, 4T, 5T, 6F, 7F, 8T, 9F, 10F
To contact Lesley direction, go to www.copyrightlawscom.blogspot.com
6 comments:
MEK said…
Can you explain No. 4? What implications does this have for online publications? Is the key in the use of the word “may”?
Copyrightlaws.com said…
Good question. A somewhat tricky area. If you have permission to use a work in one country, you may only use that work in that country. If you are planning an online publication, you want to obtain global or worldwide rights. That way, any country in which the publication can be accessed, you will have been covered in terms of your rights. Global rights is the norm for online publications.
Lesley
Anonymous said…
Question 7 seems a little misleading to me. A license is not subject to the *copyright* laws (unless it says otherwise), but it is still subject to the contract laws, no? Is it not possible to write terms of a license which are unenforceable because they are illegal? Or do you mean that it is only subject to the laws of the country where the contract is issued?
The quiz succinctly debunks a lot of copyright myths. Very nice 
Eric Harbeson
(who’s not a lawyer)
Copyrightlaws.com said…
Hi Eric, question #7 relates to which country’s law may govern your agreement. If say you live in the US and the other party lives in England, whose country’s laws apply to the agreement? Either is fine — this is actually a negotiating point. It’s always easier to have your own country however that is not mandatory.
David Bennett said…
In response to Anonymous (above) - Copyright Law sees an author’s work as their personal property. Copyright itself is an intellectual property right.
If I own the copyright on something, this copyright is my personal property. In the same way that I may sell or give away my house, car or any of the other posessions that I own, I may sell or give away some or all of my intellectual property rights (copyright) to someone else. All copyright law does is prohibit others from copying my work without my written permission, an act viewed in law as stealing my personal (intellectual) property.
