Copyrights

COPYRIGHTS

Copyrights protect original expressions of ideas in various forms, such as stories, poems, plays, dances, paintings, photographs, sculpture, sound recordings, architectural designs, software, and radio and television broadcasts.

Copyrights do not protect ideas themselves, only the creative or artistic manner in which ideas are expressed. Copyrights are created the moment that an original copyrightable work is affixed in a tangible medium, such as when a story is put to paper or entered into a computer or a song is recorded.

Copyrights need not be registered, but may be registered in order to be fully enforced. Copyright works, both registered and unregistered, may be marked with the word "Copyright" or the symbol "©" followed by the year and the name of the copyright owner, to put others on notice of a claim to copyrights.

Copyrights allow the copyright owner to authorize the copying, publication, distribution and adaptation of a protected work. The duration of a copyright in a work is the life of the creator plus 70 years, for works created by named individuals, or 95 years from publication, for anonymous or corporate works. After copyrights are expired a work is said to be in the public domain.