How Copyright Works: Cowriting, Fair Use, Independent Creation | Berklee Online

In this video series by Berklee Online instructor Dr. E. Michael Harrington, you will learn how copyright works. Featured topics include copyright and intellectual property, specifically the difference between copyright, patent, and trademark. You will also learn about copyright in practice, including how cowriting, fair use, and independent creation operate. Dr. Harrington also discusses sampling, replay, and interpolation, and the mechanics of a copyright lawsuit and what you need to know. This is territory he knows well through from his long career in music law, including when he famously returned “We Shall Overcome” and “This Land is Your Land” to the public domain. In his parting advice, Harrington says that now is a great time to be a creator because of all of the revenue stream options available, and the more you know about copyright, the better you can monetize your work.

About Dr. E. Michael Harrington
Dr. E. Michael Harrington is a professor in music copyright and intellectual property matters. He has lectured at many law schools, organizations, and music conferences throughout North America, including Harvard Law, George Washington University Law, Hollywood Bar Association, Texas Bar, Minnesota Bar, Houston Law Center, Brooklyn Law, BC Law, Loyola Law, NYU, McGill, Eastman, Emory, the Experience Music Project, Future of Music Coalition, Pop Montreal, and others. He has worked as a consultant and expert witness in hundreds of music copyright matters including efforts to return “We Shall Overcome” and “This Land Is Your Land” to the public domain, and has worked with director Steven Spielberg, producer Mark Burnett, the Chicks, Steve Perry, Busta Rhymes, Samsung, Keith Urban, HBO, T-Pain, T. I., Snoop Dogg, Collin Raye, Tupac Shakur, Lady Gaga, George Clinton, Mariah Carey, and others. He sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Popular Culture, advisory board of the Future of Music Coalition and the Creators Freedom Project, and is a member of Leadership Music. Michael has been interviewed by the New York Times, CNN, Bloomberg Law, Wall Street Journal, Time, Huffington Post, Billboard, USA Today, Rolling Stone, Money Magazine, Investor's Business Daily, People Magazine, Life Magazine, and Washington Post, in addition to BRAVO, PBS, ABC News, NBC’s “Today Show,” the Biography Channel, NPR, CBC and others. He teaches Music Business Capstone and Music Licensing courses at Berklee Online, and is the course author and instructor for Music Business Law, part of the curriculum for Berklee Online’s Master of Art in Music Business degree.

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Dr. E. Michael Harrington | Berklee Online | Berklee College of Music | Copyright Law | How does copyright work | We Shall Overcome | This Land is Your Land | Public Domain | Music Copyright | Intellectual Property | Music Business | Music Law | Patent | Trademark | Sampling | Replay | Interpolation | Cowriting | Fair Use | Independent Creation