According to Black’s Law Dictionary, copyright is “a right granted by statute to the author or originator of certain literary or artistic productions, whereby he is invested, for a limited period, with the sole and exclusive privilege of multiplying copies of the same and publishing and selling them.” The United States Copyright Office defines copyright as a “form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” Copyright is enshrined in American law at various levels: its constitutional basis is found in the U.S. Constitution in Chapter XIV, Article I, §8, Par 8, also known as the “Patent and Copyright Clause:
“The Congress shall have power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”
In addition, the statutory basis for copyright is found in Title 17 of the United States Code, as revised by the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. Furthermore, the Berne Convention, an international copyright convention to which the United States became a signatory in 1989, granted U.S. authors more rights/advantages in the international arena and created minimum standards for copyright, which altered some rules and regulations pertaining to copyright in the United States.
Two core concepts of copyright law are originality and ownership. According to the United States Copyright Office, copyright is a form of protection provided by the government to authors of original works, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, among others. This originality requirement is one of the building blocks of copyright protection and has been for over 200 years. Likewise, another foundational aspect of copyright is ownership: a copyright can be owned and becomes the property of the author as soon as the work is created, although an author can transfer ownership rights. (But note: if an employee creates a work within the scope of his/her employment, then the work is termed a “work made for hire,” and generally the employer owns the copyright.)
As a concomitant, the copyright owner has numerous exclusive rights, including the right to reproduce the work (1), to prepare derivative works (2), to distribute copies of the work to the public (3), to perform the work publicly (4), and to display the work publicly (5). One important point: according to Circular 1 of the U.S. Copyright Office, mere ownership of a copy of the copyrighted work does not give the possessor the copyright. In other words, simply buying a book does not confer any rights in the copyright.
Copyright protection starts automatically as soon as the work is created/recorded in some concrete form. Or in copyright-speak, to be eligible for copyright, a work must be an original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium or tangible form of expression in which the expression can be reproduced. The fixation requirement is met if the work can be read or visually perceived directly [i.e., book, manuscript, sheet music] or with the aid of a machine or device [i.e., film, videotape, or microfilm]. In contrast, a thought or idea is not copyrightable; however, if the thought or idea is written down, the writing itself is protected by copyright, because the writing is a tangible medium of expression, in contrast to the thought or idea, which is not tangible and hence not copyrightable. Likewise, words once entered into a computer are a tangible medium of expression, and thus copyrightable. Finally, a work must demonstrate minimal creativity in order to be copyrightable.
What is copyrightable? Copyrightable works include the following (this list is not exhaustive):
(An interesting note about websites: copyright infringement can occur whenever copyrighted material is copied from or posted [i.e., “uploaded”] to a website without authorization from the copyright owner, but creating a regular word link to another website's home page does not violate copyright law. See Stanford University Libraries. Transferring Information to and From a Website.)
In contrast, the following items are not copyrightable.
(But some of these might be covered by other forms of intellectual property, such as patent or trademark law.)
Is notice required? There used to be a notice requirement, but it was eliminated in 1989 when the U.S. joined the Berne Convention. Before 1989, all copyrightable works had to display a notice using the following format: © 2014 John Doe, in which © is the symbol for copyright, 2014 is the year of first publication, and “John Doe” is the name of the copyright owner. Although notice is no longer required, there are advantages to displaying notice: it makes it easier to win a copyright infringement lawsuit, because the infringer cannot claim he/she did not know the material was copyrighted. Also, including a copyright notice might make it easier for a potential infringer to track down a copyright owner and legitimately obtain permission to use the work. (See Stanford University Libraries. Copyright Protection: What It Is, How It Works.)
How Long Does Copyright Protection Last? Works originally created on or after January 1, 1978 are protected from the moment of creation until 70 years after the death of the author. In contrast, for works originally created, published or registered before January 1, 1978, the length of copyright protection was 28 years, renewable once during the 28th year for another 28 year period. When the copyright expires, the work enters the public domain, which means anyone can use the item for free, without obtaining permission of the copyright owner.
Do I Have To Register My Copyright? Registration is no longer a requirement for copyright protection, but registering a copyright is advantageous in that it establishes a public record of the copyright claim. In addition, in order to file an infringement suit, the author or owner must register [if the work is of U.S. origin]. The registration process is not hard: see the website of the United States Copyright Office at http://www.copyright.gov/. It is possible to register online via the eCO Registration System or by paper forms (available on the Copyright Office’s website). Both methods require a fee and submission of deposit copy (or copies, depending on the class of work). Finally, the copyright owner can register at any time during the life of the copyright.
