What is Copyright

Copyright grants authors a limited monopoly over their works, encouraging them to create new works while also creating a public domain of ideas, knowledge, and information upon which society can build.

When Is Copyright Established

Copyright is established the moment an idea is put into a fixed medium. Copyright does not require registration or the display of the copyright symbol to exist. Registration is required only if someone wishes to pursue a lawsuit.

What Can be Copyrighted

Copyright resides in the unique expression of an idea which is in a fixed medium. A fixed medium is something that can be reproduced. Copyright protects:

• Literature
• Music
• Art
• Drama
• Other intellectual work:
  • computer programs
  • choreography
  • architecture

What Cannot be Copyrighted

• Ideas, procedures, methods
• Facts
• Titles, names, slogans, listing of ingredients, or colors
• Works that are not in a fixed medium, e.g., an extemporaneous speech
• Federal Government publications
• Common knowledge

What Does Copyright Protect

Copyright grants authors the exclusive rights to:

• make copies
• sell or otherwise distribute their work
• create new works (derivatives) based upon their work
• perform or display their work in public

CopyrightBasics.doc
This brochure was created by Laura Pope Robbins in 2004 and covers 16 basic facts about copyright.