About copyrights

A copyright is a form of protection for authors of "original works of authorship," which include literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, including software and web sites. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. The United States 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.

Copyright applications can be filed for:

• Literary works
• Musical works, including accompanying words
• Dramatic works, including accompanying music
• Pantomimes and choreographic works
• Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
• Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
• Sound recordings
• Architectural works
• Serials/periodicals
• Mask works (semiconductor chips)

Copyright does not cover works that have not been "fixed in a tangible form of expression," such as written or recorded. Copyright also does not cover titles, names, short phrases and slogans- which can be protected by trademarks. Copyright also does not cover ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices- which can be covered by patents.

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.

Our firm charges $300, plus $30 government filing fee, to prepare and file a basic copyright application.

For a free copyright consultation, please contact our intellectual property attorney Marc Baumgartner online, or call us at toll free 800-361-1961 or 858-764-2467 (San Diego).