Copyright is a form of protection provided by
the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the
authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary,
dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual
works. This protection is available to both published and
unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act
generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do
and to authorize others to do the following:
- To reproduce
the work in copies or phonorecords;
- To prepare derivative works
based upon the work;
- To distribute copies or
phonorecords of the work to
the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by
rental, lease, or lending;
- To perform the work publicly,
in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and
choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and
other audiovisual works;
- To display the copyrighted work
publicly, 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; and
- In the case of sound recordings,
to perform the work publicly by means of a
digital audio transmission.
In addition, certain authors of works of
visual art have the rights of attribution and integrity as
described in
section 106A of the 1976 Copyright Act. For
further information, request
Circular 40,
“Copyright Registration for Works of the Visual Arts.”
It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the
rights provided by the copyright law to the owner of copyright.
These rights, however, are not unlimited in scope.
Sections
107 through 121 of the 1976 Copyright Act
establish limitations on these rights. In some cases, these
limitations are specified exemptions from copyright liability.
One major limitation is the doctrine of "fair use," which is
given a statutory basis in
section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act. In
other instances, the limitation takes the form of a "compulsory
license" under which certain limited uses of copyrighted works
are permitted upon payment of specified royalties and compliance
with statutory conditions. For further information about the
limitations of any of these rights, consult the copyright law or
write to the Copyright Office.
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Copyright protects "original works of
authorship" that are fixed in a tangible form of
expression. The fixation need not be directly
perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the
aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include
the following categories:
- literary works;
- musical works, including any
accompanying words
- dramatic works, including any
accompanying music
- pantomimes and choreographic
works
- pictorial, graphic, and
sculptural works
- motion pictures and other
audiovisual works
- sound recordings
- architectural works
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