Copyright protects original expression of ideas in various forms and media. Copyright protection lasts for a limited time and has certain statutory exceptions.
Protected material
Copyright protects work of authorship. Examples include:
- Literary works
- Musical works
- Dramatic works
- Pantomines and Choreographic works
- Pictorial, Graphic, and Sculptural works
- Motion pictures and audiovisual works
- Sound recordings
Requirements
Copyright protection is provided to works that are original and fixated. An original work is one that is independently created by the author and has some minimal level of creativity, with some exceptions. A work is fixated if it is fixed in any tangible medium of expression.
Rights provided
A copyright owner has exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, distribute, and publicly display or perform the work.
There are statutory exceptions to these rights including fair use, first sale doctrine and archival reproductions and distributions.
Duration of rights
Copyrights created on or after January 1, 1978 are protected under the copyright act and last for 70 years after the author’s death for a work created by a single author. Works made for hire lasts 120 years after creation or 95 years after first publication, whichever comes first.