Article on Terminating Online Copyright Licenses
Inthe 1930s, two high school students created a character with superhumanstrength and abilities. In their youth and naivety, these two studentsexchanged Superman and all of their rights to the character to a corporation inreturn for $130.
In2004, the Superman franchise was worth over one billion dollars. WhenSiegel and Shuster died, they were broke and alienated from the fortunegenerated by their character.
Thanksto copyright law reforms, however, the two authors’ heirs possess the legalability to terminate a portion of those grants. The heirs have “anotherbite of the apple,” so to speak. “In the spirit of Siegel and Shuster’scharacter Superman,” the heirs exercised this right of termination in 1999 and“have persevered to regain the copyright granted in 1938.”
Fastforward to today. In a new digital world, naive authors and artiststransfer their rights by millions through email, blogs, and social medianetworks like Facebook and Instagram. Not unlike the naive Jerry Siegel and JoeShuster, who granted the rights to Superman to Time Warner (then WarnerCommunications) in 1933, millions of everyday citizens who lack bargainingpower and legal finesse lose their valuable copyrights to online giants. However, the Siegels and Shusters of the digital world are not the only victims. The authors of online copyrighted material and their estate planners facecomplexities when planning digital estates, often leaving a superhumanchallenge for an heir seeking to recapture the author’s work.
Manyheirs are unaware that they possess such a right at all, not only because ofcomplex user agreements or user naivety, but also because the very nature ofcertain online technologies, such as email, is still under debate. TheInternet presents wide opportunities for exposure, allowing a previously unknownartist to create incredible contributions to the literary, visual arts, ormusical industries and become discovered, much like Siegel and Shuster. Like Siegel and Shuster, many authors unknowingly agree to the terms of serviceprior to publishing such works online—terms of service that usually includeprovisions that grant or license to the website a user’s intellectual propertyrights, prohibit transfer or inheritance of accounts, or destroy the right toterminate the grant or license. Most people do not actually read theterms of service when they agree to use an online service.
Thiscomment is divided into six parts. Part II explains the relevant federalcopyright laws. This section explains what is subject to copyrightprotection, defines the right of termination, and explains how copyright lawdistinguishes between works created before and after January 1, 1978, and thoseworks granted before and after the same date. Part II further explainswhich copyright-appropriate works are ineligible for reversion to the author orthe author’s heirs. Part III examines the property law-copyright lawdichotomy on the Internet. Part IV discusses the relevant terms of service that popular social media websitesand email providers require in a user agreement. Part V explains whypreserving the property rights of digital assets in turn preserves theintellectual property interests in the content. Part VI discusses state,international, and federal attempts (or lack thereof) to adjust law totechnology’s rapid evolution. Part VII discusses how cybercrime statutescomplicate legal and layman understanding of copyright law on theInternet. Finally, Part VIII explains why addressing these issues isimportant.