copyright law provides copyright owners with the following exclusive rights: The work made for hire doctrine also applies to certain independent contractor relationships, for certain types of commissioned works.Ĭopyright ownership can also come from contracts like assignments or from other types of transfers like wills and bequests. Copyright law allows ownership through “works made for hire,” which establishes that works created by an employee within the scope of employment are owned by the employer.

Once you create an original work and fix it, like taking a photograph, writing a poem or blog, or recording a new song, you are the author and the owner.Ĭompanies, organizations, and other people besides the work’s creator can also be copyright owners. For example, a work is fixed when you write it down or record it.Įveryone is a copyright owner. Permanent medium such that the work can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated for more than a Fixed WorksĪ work is fixed when it is captured (either by or under the authority of an author) in a sufficiently And always keep in mind that copyright protects expression,Īnd never ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, or discoveries. Mere listings of ingredients or contents. There are some things, however, that are not creative, like: titles, names, short phrases, and slogans įamiliar symbols or designs mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring and Supreme Court has said that, to be creative, a work must have a “spark” and “modicum” of creativity. Independent creation simply means that you create it yourself, without copying.

Works are original when they are independently created by a human author and have a minimal degree Types of works, including paintings, photographs, illustrations, musical compositions, sound recordings,Ĭomputer programs, books, poems, blog posts, movies, architectural works, plays, and so much more!Ĭopyright is originality and fixation Original Works In copyright law, there are a lot of different Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as anĪuthor fixes the work in a tangible form of expression.

Songs no copyright