Copyright is a form of intellectual property that protects original works. Whether you are a writer, painter, filmmaker, programmer, architect, or something else entirely, copyright is an area of law that’s important to be familiar with. You’ve worked hard to create your piece; copyright helps ensure it won’t be stolen.
What does copyright mean?
Let’s Define Copyright
You don’t need to be a lawyer to understand how copyright works, and what it pertains to. Having a high-level understanding of the field can be useful to just about anyone. So what is a copyright?
COPYRIGHT DEFINITION
What is Copyright?
Copyright is a legal framework that applies to original works of authorship. It protects works from being reproduced, performed, or displayed without the owner’s consent. Copyright law grants these rights exclusively to the author.
Copyright can apply to a wide array of media, including novels, songs, softwares, films, and more.
Qualifications for copyright:
- Original— Must be a unique work independently created by a human.
- Fixed— Must be unchanging and permanent.
- Tangible— Must be able to be perceived/communicated.
As you can see, copyright is a powerful form of intellectual property, and is extremely important for artists, entrepreneurs, exhibitionists, and more.
How to copyright
Securing a copyright
Copyrighting your own work is remarkably easy. In fact, it’s automatic. When you create a work that is original, fixed, and tangible, its copyright is granted to you, without you needing to take any further action.
There are ways to further protect yourself. Registering your copyright allows you to be able to sue people if they violate your rights over your work. If you live in the United States, registering your work is also relatively straightforward. Simply visit the Copyright Office website and go onto their registration portal to get the process started.
Having control over a work’s copyright means you also have control over how you license it out to others. Licensing can take many forms and can get complicated, so if you want to ensure you’re doing it right, you may want to hire an attorney (entertainment lawyers can be useful here).
But licensing can be generally divided into two types. The first is to individually license an entity to use your work for a specified duration and use. The second is to hand over the rights to an entity, so that they can then both use your work as they see fit and license the work out themselves.
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How copyright works
What you can (and can’t) copyright
As we’ve noted, copyright applies to works that are original and fixed. Of course, these qualifications can feel a bit open-ended, but that’s by design. Copyright pertains to a wide array of material.
Here are a few examples of what is typically automatically copyrighted upon creation:
- Motion pictures
- Literary works (novels, essays, poems, non-fiction books, etc.)
- Musical works
- Choreography
- Visual art (paintings, photography, etc.)
- Sculpture
- Theatrical/dramatic work
All of these forms usually fall under both original and fixed. There are caveats, of course. Say you perform an improvised jazz song live. That performance would not be copyrighted, since it isn’t fixed– it’s ephemeral and only exists for the audience that is present for the performance.
Here are some other things which are typically not protected by copyright:
- Procedures/operational methods (these can be protected with patents)
- Titles or short phrases
- Typefaces
- Recipes
- Ideas/concepts
These classifications usually do not satisfy both qualifications of being fixed and original. An idea might be original, for example, but it isn’t fixed. A typeface may be fixed, but it can be difficult to prove originality.
Of course, it should be noted that there are exceptions to these examples. If you want to be certain that your work is copyrighted, consult with a lawyer, or apply for registration.
When does copyright expire?
How long does copyright last?
Your work may last forever, but your copyright won’t. There is an expiration date on your ownership before your work will enter the public domain.
Today, the general rule for how long copyright lasts is seventy years after the author dies. This applies to all works created after 1978.
For works created before 1978, it’s a little trickier. These works are protected by the 1909 Act. Works then were protected for 28 years, then eligible for renewal for another 28 years after that.
For works originally copyrighted after 1922 and renewed before 1978, they are protected for a total of 95 years.
Additional information on copyright duration can be found on the Copyright Office’s website.
Up Next
How to Copyright a Script
In the film industry, one of the most important types of intellectual property protection is to copyright a screenplay. Learn how to copyright a script in our upcoming article.
Up Next: How to Copyright a Script →
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