Clients are often confused about the various forms of intellectual property, that is, patents, trademark, or copyrights. So, what is a copyright?

Simply put, a copyright is a type of personal property. It is created by statute and gives a person a right to their original creative work, a book, a song, something with original authorship. The thing to be copyrighted must be fixed in some tangible form that allows for it to be expressed to others. Paper, magnetic tape, canvas, or rock to name a few examples.

United States copyright laws are created by our federal government through the Copyright Act of 1976 (“Copyright Act”). The federal agency responsible for carrying out the copyright laws is the United States Copyright Office, a part of the library of congress.

A few examples of things that a creative person might want to get a copyright for are:

• books

• plays

• sculptures

• works of art

• music

• movies 

• software

• podcast recordings

A person that creates something original will be protected from unauthorized copying by others once a copyright is registered. So, the creative person would, with a copyright, have an exclusive property right in the creative work. They would have the right to do and to authorize others to remake, distribute, perform, display or copy the work.

Importantly, it is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided to a creative person that is attained via the properly registered copyright. This right extends for a period of years that are determined by the Copyright Act. Too, like any form of personal property, a creative person’s copyright may be transferred – sold or left to someone in a will for instance.