A copyright is a legal protection given to the authors of original literary, musical, or artistic works.1 It gives the right to reproduce, display, or produce derivative works from the protected item. It also gives the right to sue to collect damages if someone else infringes the copyright from the time the work was created until 70 years after the author’s death (or 95 years after publication for works for hire, which will be discussed later in this chapter). Infringement occurs if another party duplicates, displays, produces, or distributes the work; or gives, rents, or lends it to others.
What Can Be Copyrighted?
Many things can be protected by copyright, including books, movies, software, music, other recordings, databases, plays, ...
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