Rule of law

     I didn’t expect my attorney to answer as many questions as he did.  Seeing as he specializes in civil cases dealing with construction defect.  There are many different circumstances that can change the ruling and judgments on a case.  In order to be extremely confident with the answers that I was given, I’d need to look deeper into the subject matter of the questions and give specific details.  My goal was to incorporate as many media related questions as possible.  I did add a few generic questions that could potentially be used and beneficial to film.

     I was really interested in finding out how original my work had to be.  If it was possible to actually take a certain idea liven it up and pass the idea on as my own creation.  Seeing as there are movies and songs that mock actual people.  “If the use was transformative, this weighs in favor of a fair use finding.  In a parody, for example, the parodist transforms the original by holding it up to ridicule.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, Pg. 256  I can see why there aren’t direct answers in this case.  The rulings can have many different outcomes, depending on the facts. 

     From the research obtained it has become clearer of the actions that may be taken such as when infringement is committed towards any of my work.  If or when infringement has been committed I have come to know that there is an specific action toward infringement “Under the Copyright Act, a copyright owner is entitled to file an infringement action in federal court against a person…” Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, Pg. 269

     One of the questions included internet usage.  It is question two, which touches on the subject of uploading a video on to the internet.  I wanted to become more familiar with the consequences of having my work ripped of the internet and sold.  My attorney informed me that it is a really hot topic right now.  Although the internet allows people to get away with infringement easier, the same regulations still apply “Copyright law is supposed to work the same on the internet as it does in the more tangible worlds of print and the fine art.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, Pg. 274  The rule of law states that copyright law is to be treated the same as if in everyday life.  “Unfortuanately, that’s not the case. Keeping tarck of copyright ownership and enforcing copyright has proven more difficult in cyberspace.”  Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, Pg. 274

     Overall the comparisons between the responses given by my attorney and the rules of law meshed together well. The answers were sensible to the content in the text.  Copyrights are commonly used.  “Copyright does not protect ideas or facts; it protects only the unique way in which ideas or facts are expressed.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, Pg. 196