Editing Exclusive rights

== U.S. copyright law ==

=== Definition ===

The [[1976 Copyright Act|Copyright Act]] grants [[copyright owner]]s certain '''exclusive rights''' that, together, comprise the bundle of rights known as [[copyright]]. Under [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000106----000-.html Section 106 of Title 17,] the exclusive rights of the [[copyright owner]] include the right to do and to authorize any of the following: &mdash; 

{{Quote|(1) to [[reproduce]] the [[copyrighted work]] in [[copies]] or [[phonorecords]]; 

(2) to prepare [[derivative work]]s based upon the [[copyrighted work]]; 

(3) 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; 

(4) in the case of [[literary work|literary]], [[musical work|musical]], [[dramatic work|dramatic]], and [[pantomimes and choreographic works|choreographic works, pantomimes]], and [[motion pictures]] and other [[audiovisual works]], to [[perform]] the [[copyrighted work]] [[publicly]];

(5) in the case of [[literary work|literary]], [[musical work|musical]], [[dramatic work|dramatic]], and [[pantomimes and choreographic works|choreographic works, pantomimes]] and [[pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works]], including the individual images of a [[motion pictures|motion picture]] or other [[audiovisual work]], to [[display]] the [[copyrighted work]] [[publicly]]; and

(6) in the case of [[sound recording]]]s, to [[public performance|perform]] the [[copyrighted work]] [[publicly]] by means of a [[digital audio transmission]].<ref>17 U.S.C. §106.</ref>}}

=== Overview ===

These rights are subject to certain limitations that are defined in Sections 107 through 122 of the [[Copyright Act]].

These rights, in most instances, have been well elaborated by [[Congress]] and the courts in both "conventional" and [[digital]] contexts.

The [[1976 Copyright Act|1976 Act]] for the first time includes a right of [[copyright owner]]s both "to do and to authorize" the various exclusive rights of [[copyright ownership]]. The legislative history of this provision explains that "use of the phrase 'to authorize' is intended to avoid any questions as to the liability of contributory infringers.”<ref>House Report, at 61.</ref>

== U.S. patent law ==

Under [[1952 Patent Act|U.S. patent law]], a [[patent]] grants the [[patent owner|owner]]

{{Quote|the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States, and, if the invention is a process, of the right to exclude others from using, offering for sale or selling throughout the United States, or importing into the United States, products made by that process, referring to the specification for the particulars thereof<ref>35 U.S.C. §154(a)(1).</ref>}}

for a period of 20 years from the date of the [[patent application]].<ref>''Id.'' at §154(a)(2).</ref> One who engages in any of those acts without the permission of the [[patentee]] during the [[patent term|term of the patent]] can be held liable for [[patent infringement|infringement]].

This right is often characterized as a “monopoly.”<ref>Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel Co., 376 U.S. 225, 229, 140 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 524, 527 (1964)([http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4882017016049328871&q=376+U.S.+225&hl=en&as_sdt=2002 full-text]).</ref> But it is a limited monopoly, since the patent owner has no right to make, sell, use or import his own invention if in doing so he would [[patent infringement|infringe another patent]].<ref>''Id.''</ref>

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Patent]]
[[Category:Copyright]]
[[Category:Legislation]]
[[Category:Legislation-U.S.-Federal]]
[[Category:Legislation-U.S.-Copyright]]
[[Category:Legislation-U.S.-Patent]]