Webmaster Copyright Primer
Copyrights do not last forever. Works eventually pass into the public domain. The public domain is a term used to describe works that are no longer copyrighted. You can voluntarily place your own works into the public domain but all works will pass into the public domain eventually. When depends on the country the work was originally copyrighted in. The term for something to pass into the public domain is usually a series of years after the author's death, or after first date of publication. For information on when works pass into the public domain check out this website: http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm. In 1998 the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act was passed. This extended the copyright of any currently copyrighted work to be 95 years from the date the copyright was originally secured. This law had many supporters in the entertainment industry, including Disney. Mickey Mouse would have passed into the public domain in a few years.
In addition to expired works other works are also in the public domain. Items that are not unique enough to be copyrighted, such as some jokes or simple design concepts, are in the public domain. However not all jokes are in the public domain, some professional comedians or media producers may copyright their material so you would be wise to check with your source before reprinting any such material.
Another source of public domain materials is the government. Nearly everything the U.S Government and it's associated agencies puts out is in the public domain, the only case when this is not true is when a private individual lends his copyrighted work for use in a governmental publication, in which case the government has permission to publish it, but only the original author can grant such permission to anyone else.
2.3 The DMCA
Another new copyright law was recently passed. You may have heard of it, The Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This law pertains to anyone who runs an Internet service that allows users to post or publish data or information. The law says that if a claim of copyright infringement is made in the appropriate format then the online service provider (website hosting company) must take down the offending material or risk liability for its publication. If the host then receives a contradictory claim from the content publisher they are allowed to re-allow access to the material, free of liability.
More information on the DMCA, including steps for properly formatting a complaint, can be found at the United States Copyright Office located here: http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/
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