and lists or tables taken from public documents
or other common sources
Where copyright protection applies, it is available
to both published and unpublished works. The
Copyright Act generally gives the owner the exclusive
right to do and to authorize others to do the following:
To reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or
phonorecords (phonorecords, for the purpose of
this section, refers to material objects embodying
fixations of sounds, such as cassette tapes, CDs
or LPs)
To prepare derivative works based upon the
copyrighted work
To distribute copies or phonorecords of the
copyrighted work to the public by sale or other
transfer of ownership or by rental, lease or
lending
To perform the copyrighted work publicly in the
case of literary, musical, dramatic and
choreographic works, pantomimes, motion
pictures and other audiovisual works
To display the copyrighted work publicly in the
case of literary, musical, dramatic and
choreographic works, pantomimes and pictorial,
graphic or sculptural works, including the
individual images of a motion picture or other
audiovisual work
LIMITATIONS
It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights
provided to the owner of copyright by the act. These
rights, however, are not unlimited in scope. In some
cases, these limitations are specified exemptions from
copyright liability.
One major limitation is the doctrine of “fair use,”
which is now given a statutory basis by section 107 of
the act, which states: the fair use of a copyright work,
including such use by reproduction in copies or
phonorecords or by any other means specified (in
section 106 of the act), for purposes such as criticism,
comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple
copies for classroom use), scholarship or research is not
an infringement of copyright. In determining whether
the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair
use, you should consider the following factors:
1. The purpose and character of the use, including
whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for
nonprofit educational purposes
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion
used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market
for or value of the copyrighted work
In other instances, the limitation takes the form of a
“compulsory license” under which certain limited uses
of copyrighted works are permitted upon payment of
specified royalties and compliance with statutory
conditions.
INFRINGEMENT
To use any of the exclusive rights of a copyright
owner without permission is an infringement of
copyright. Infringement is in violation of the law, and as
such, it is punishable by the courts.
The owner of a copyright, upon proving that an
infringement has occurred, can expect to recover from
the offender any monetary loss suffered as well as any
profit realized by the offender due to the infringement.
10-10
When a copyright is infringed by or for the U.S.
government, the exclusive remedy of the copyright
owner is, with the government’s permission, to bring
suit against the United States in the Court of Claims.
Government employees, including military personnel,
are not personally liable for copyright infringement
occurring in the performance of their official duties. In
cases involving Navy personnel, claims of copyright
infringement may be settled before the time suit is
brought by the Secretary of the Navy or his duly
authorized representative, the Chief of Naval Research
or his designee.
To avoid the possibility of infringement, the best
policy is to request permission from the owner before
using any copyrighted material. The basic guidance for
the procedures to be followed in obtaining copyright
permission is contained in Permission to Copy
Materials Subject to Copyright, SECNAVINST 5870.5
series, which covers the use of copyrighted materials in
Navy publications, motion pictures, audiotapes, and
videotapes and similar works.
USE OF GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
Any material published by or for the U.S.
government, or any reprint in whole or in part thereof,
