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Copyright Law
 
  • Copyright refers to the right of a creator (an author, painter, inventor, composer, etc.) to maintain control over his or her creative works.

The Copyright symbol
 
  • According to U.S. Copyright Law, any original work, including books, music, movies, videos, computer programs, artwork and designs, and patents, is legally protected.
  • This protection extends to both published and unpublished works. In other words, anything that is created is automatically covered under the copyright law, even if no paperwork is filed with the U.S. Copyright Office.


Only the author or owner of the copyrighted work can give permission to use, copy, distribute, or display it.

Section 106 of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 states [emphasis added]:
  ...the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
 
  1. to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords; 
  2. to prepare derivative works 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, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly; 
  5. in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and 
  6. in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.* 
  Before you distribute, copy, display or perform any copyrighted work, you must get permission from the copyright holder, usually the original author.

* Library of Congress, Copyright Office. (June 1999). Copyright Basics. [Online]. http://www.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ1.html
 
Chapter 7, Page 2

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