Copyright is a set of U.S. laws (title 17, U.S. Code) with international agreements, which protect the rights of creators of intellectual property.

This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.

    This form of protection is to the authors of "original works of authorship," including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works.*

Copyright rights

1976 Copyright Act, Sec. 106 generally gives the copyright owner exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

To display the copyrighted work publicly, … 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.

It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright law to the owner of copyright.*

• Fair use is defined as "purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copes for classroom use), scholarship, or research [and], is not an infringement of copyright." **

• Certain factors shall be considered in this determination.

A work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author's life plus an additional 70 years after the author's death.**

• Works copyrighted prior to 1978 may be protected by copyright for a total of 95 years by the author or the author’s surrogates.**

• Certain works may be copyrighted after the original copyright passes if the subsequent author adds a substantial enhancement .

• As soon as a work is created, it is protected by copyright.

• Even very old items may be under copyright.

• Even tiny, simple drawings are protected.

• Copyright infringement is taken very seriously by some corporations.

• If you didn’t create it, make sure you have written permission to use it. Keep a copy of the contract.

• Include attribution; when that work was created and by whom.

• While using work for a paper may be OK, using the same thing on a Web page probably is not.

• People work and get paid to write and illustrate.

• If you use someone’s work without permission, you are stealing it.

The University of Texas System. Use Of Copyrighted Materials. (August 10, 2001). University of Texas System. (http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol.htm)

Harper, G. K. (2001). The Copyright Crash Course. University of Texas System.  (http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/cprtindx.htm)