What is a Copyright?
A copyright is an artistic, literary, or intellectually created work of authorship. Example of copyright protectable works include novels, lyrics, music, movies and videos, software source code, photographs, sculptures, and paintings. For copyright protection a work of authorship must be original and exist in a tangible medium of expression, such as paper, canvas, film, or digital media. A copyright provides the practical benefit of protecting an author’s exclusive right to change, reproduce, distribute, and perform or display the created work, and prevents other people from modifying, copying or exploiting the creation without the copyright holder’s permission. There is an area of overlap between copyright and design patent statutes where the author/inventor can obtain both a copyright registration and a design patent. Thus, an ornamental design may have a copyright as a work of art, and may also be subject matter of a design patent. Our attorneys are here to assist you through the entire copyright application process and helping you secure meaningful copyright registrations to protect your valuable works of authorship and intellectual property rights.