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Copyright
A copyright is a form of intellectual property protection provided by the
laws of the United States 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protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Copyrights give
the author the exclusive right to do and to authorize the right to:
- Reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
- Prepare derivative works based upon the work;
- Distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other
transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
- Perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and
choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
- In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of
a digital audio transmission.
Although there are inherent protections in any original work of authorship, obtaining
a copyright on a work gives you statutory damages if your work is infringed. Absent
a registration, proving damages for infringement is much more difficult. Furthermore,
copyrights are extremely inexpensive relative to patents or trademarks.
For more information related to copyright protection, please see our copyright artciles under publications.
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