Most Important Feature of Any Kind of Property

The most important feature of any kind of property is that the owner may use it exclusively, i.e., as he wishes, and that nobody else can lawfully use it without his authorization. This does not, of course, mean that he can use it regardless of the legally recognized rights and interests of other members of society. Similarly the owner of copyright in a protected work may use the work as he wishes, and may prevent others from using it without his authorization. However, there are limitations to the rights.

The first limitation is the exclusion from copyright protection of certain categories of works. In some countries, works are excluded from protection if they are not fixed in tangible form. For example, a work of choreography would only be protected once the movements were written down in dance notation or recorded on videotape. In certain countries, the texts of laws, court and administrative decisions are excluded from copyright protection.

The second category of limitations concerns particular acts of exploitation, normally requiring the authorization of the rights owner, which may, under circumstances specified in the law, be carried out without authorization. There are two basic types of limitations in this category: (a) free use, which carries no obligation to compensate the rights owner for the use of his work without authorization; and (b) non-voluntary licenses, which do require that compensation be paid to the rights owner for non-authorized exploitation.

Examples of free use include:

--quoting from a protected work, provided that the source of the quotation and the name of the author is mentioned, and that the extent of the quotation is compatible with fair practice;

--use of works by way of illustration for teaching purposes; and

--use of works for the purpose of news reporting.

In respect of free use for reproduction, the Berne Convention contains a general rule, rather than an explicit limitation. Article 9(2) states that Member States may provide for free reproduction in special cases where the acts do not conflict with normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author. As noted above, many laws allow for individuals to reproduce a work exclusively for their personal, private and non-commercial use.

However, the ease and quality of individual copying made possible by recent technology has led some countries to narrow the scope of such provisions, including through systems which allow certain copying, but incorporate a mechanism for payment to rights owners for the prejudice to their economic interests resulting from the copying.

In addition to the specific categories of free use set out in national laws, the laws of some countries recognize the concept known as