Eleanor Finch
The Copyright Clause, also known as the Intellectual Property Clause, was incorporated into the United States Constitution in 1787. It is an enumerated power listed in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, and grants Congress the power to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries. The clause serves as the basis for copyright and patent laws in the United States, incentivizing the creation of art, literature, music, and other works of authorship by providing exclusive rights to authors and inventors for a limited time.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year | 1787 |
| Date | 18 August |
| Name | Copyright Clause, Intellectual Property Clause, Copyright and Patent Clause, or Progress Clause |
| Article | I |
| Section | 8 |
| Clause | 8 |
| Purpose | To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries |
| Author | James Madison |
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What You'll Learn
The Copyright Clause, also known as the Intellectual Property Clause
The clause was conceived in 1787, when James Madison submitted a provision to the Framers of the U.S. Constitution to "secure to literary authors their copyrights for a limited time". This proposal was referred to the Committee of Detail, which reported back on September 5, 1787, with a proposal containing the current language of the clause. On September 17, 1787, the members of the Convention unanimously agreed to the proposed language without debate.
The Copyright Clause states:
> The Congress shall have Power ... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.
This clause addresses both patents and copyrights, with the eighteenth-century usage of "science" referring to knowledge and copyright, and "useful arts" relating to inventions and patents. The clause grants Congress the power to create copyright law, with the goal of incentivizing the creation of art, literature, architecture, music, and other works of authorship.
The Copyright Clause only permits the protection of the writings of authors and the discoveries of inventors. This means that writings may only be protected to the extent that they are original, and "inventions" must be inventive and not obvious improvements on existing knowledge. The term "writings of authors" appears to exclude non-human authorship, such as paintings by chimpanzees or computer code written by programmed computers.
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The basis of US copyright and patent laws
> To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.
James Madison, who had previously served on a committee of Congress that encouraged individual states to adopt copyright legislation, proposed this clause to the Framers of the Constitution in 1787. Madison's proposal was referred to the Committee of Detail, which reported back with the final language of the clause. On September 17, 1787, the members of the Convention unanimously agreed to the proposed language without debate.
The Copyright Clause forms the basis of US copyright law, which grants authors of original works exclusive rights to their work. Copyright is automatically granted, but registration amplifies the copyright holder's rights and is required before a lawsuit can be filed. The Copyright Act of 1976, codified in Title 17 of the United States Code, provides the basic framework for current US copyright law.
US patent law, on the other hand, grants inventors of new, useful, and non-obvious processes, machines, articles of manufacture, or compositions of matter the right to exclude others from profiting from their inventions for a limited time, usually 20 years. The US Patent Act of 1952 stated that patentable subject matter should encompass "anything under the sun that is made by man." However, US courts have struggled with interpreting this phrase, and case law has accumulated over the years to clarify patent eligibility.
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The goal of copyright law
The primary purpose of copyright law is to induce and reward authors by providing them with property rights over their original works of authorship. This includes the right to make and sell copies of their works, to create derivative works, and to perform or display their works publicly. Copyright law incentivizes the creation of art, literature, architecture, music, and other forms of creative expression, enriching the general public through access to these works.
Copyright protection is available for a variety of works, including paintings, photographs, illustrations, musical compositions, sound recordings, computer programs, books, poems, blog posts, movies, architectural works, plays, and more. It is important to note that copyright protects the "expression" of an idea, not the idea itself. Additionally, works must be independently created by a human author and exhibit a minimum degree of creativity to be eligible for copyright protection.
The length of copyright protection depends on when the work was created. Under current law, works created on or after January 1, 1978, are typically protected for the life of the author plus seventy years after their death. For works made for hire, anonymous, or pseudonymous works, the protection is for 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.
International copyright agreements and U.S. copyright law also recognize specific exceptions and limitations to the exclusive rights of copyright owners. These exceptions allow the use of copyrighted works for certain publicly beneficial purposes while still fulfilling the basic goal of copyright law. Overall, the goal of copyright law is to strike a balance between providing incentives for creativity and ensuring the dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of society as a whole.
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What copyright law protects
The Copyright Clause, which grants Congress the power to create copyright laws, was incorporated into the U.S. Constitution in 1787 as part of the broader intellectual property framework established by the Founding Fathers. This clause, found in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, provides the legislative branch with the authority to "promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." This clause forms the basis for copyright law in the United States.
Now, here is an explanation of what copyright law protects:
Copyright law protects original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. This includes a wide range of creative and intellectual works, such as:
- Literary works: novels, poems, plays, scripts, and other written texts.
- Musical works: musical compositions, songs, and lyrics.
- Dramatic works: plays, screenplays, and other dramatic writings intended for performance.
- Choreographic works: choreography and dance notations.
- Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works: photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures, and architectural designs.
- Motion pictures and audiovisual works: films, videos, and other audio-visual recordings.
- Sound recordings: musical recordings, podcasts, and any other audio recordings.
- Architectural works: building designs and architecture.
- Computer programs: software code and applications.
Copyright protects the particular way an author has expressed themselves in a tangible form, but it does not protect ideas, concepts, facts, or methods of operation. For example, a book describing a unique business strategy may be copyrighted, but the underlying business strategy itself cannot be copyrighted. Similarly, copyright does not extend to titles, names, short phrases, slogans, or generic plot ideas.
Copyright protection automatically exists from the moment of creation of a work and provides a bundle of exclusive rights to the copyright owner. These rights include the right to reproduce the work, to prepare derivative works (works based on the original), to distribute copies of the work, and to perform or display the work publicly. With these rights, the copyright owner can control how the work is used and distributed and can also authorize or license others to use the work on agreed-upon terms.
It's important to note that copyright protection has limits and does not last indefinitely. The duration of copyright protection varies depending on when the work was created and whether it was published or unpublished. Generally, for works created after January 1, 1978, the standard term is the life of the author plus 70 years. For anonymous works, pseudonymous works, or works made for hire, the duration is 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever is shorter. Understanding these durations is crucial for determining when a copyrighted work enters the public domain, at which point it can be used or built upon freely by anyone without the need for permission or licensing.
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The Copyright Act of 1976
The Copyright Clause, also known as the Intellectual Property Clause, was incorporated into the US Constitution in 1787. James Madison, who had served on a committee of the Congress, proposed that the Constitution permit Congress "to secure to literary authors their copyrights for a limited time". This proposal was agreed to by the Convention on September 17, 1787, and became part of Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the US Constitution.
The 1976 Act broadened the scope of federal statutory copyright protection from "'published' works to works that are 'fixed'". This change was significant as it meant that copyright protection now extended to original works that were fixed in a tangible medium of expression, regardless of whether they included a notice of copyright. This displaced all previous copyright laws in the United States that conflicted with the Act.
Section 102(b) of the Act excludes several categories from copyright protection, including ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, and discoveries. It also requires that copyright protection for an original work of authorship does not extend to these excluded categories, regardless of the form in which they are described or illustrated in the work.
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Frequently asked questions
The copyright clause, also known as the Intellectual Property Clause, was incorporated into the US Constitution in 1787.
The copyright clause, as outlined in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the US Constitution, states that the US Congress has the power to "promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
The first federal copyright law in the US was the Copyright Act of 1790, signed into law by George Washington on May 31, 1790.
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