A Primer on Copyright By Harvey Siskind Staff Writer Many people understand that created works can be copyrighted to establish

ownership. However, there are a number of misconceptions about what a copyright protects and the extent to which copyrighted material is protected. A copyright gives rights of ownership for a broad range of creative works, including books, songs, movies, art, and computer programs. Under U.S. law, it generally is not necessary for a work to be published in order for it to be copyrighted, since copyright is deemed to attach at the authors creation. However, registering a work with a federal agency such as the U.S. Copyright Office helps to protect the authors legal claim to the work against competitors who may argue that they created the work earlier. In the U.S., copyrights are typically effective for the authors life plus seventy years, although some works created and registered before 1978 are accorded ninety-five years of protection from the date of creation. This allows the author and the authors heirs a reasonable time to use the copyrighted work as they wish. After the expiration of the copyright protection, the work passes into the public domain, allowing anyone to use the work without permission. It should be noted, however, that copyright laws vary from country to country, so copyright protection afforded in the U.S. may not apply elsewhere. About Harvey Siskind Harvey Siskind, LLP, is a San Francisco, California-based law firm that handles copyright and trademark issues, among other things.