WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws

of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of
original wor!s of authorship," including literary, dramatic,
musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual wor!s. #his
protection is available to both published and unpublished
wor!s. Section 1$% of the 1&7% Copyright 'ct generally
gives the owner of copyright the e(clusive right to do and
to authori)e others to do the following*
l To reproduce the wor! in copies or phonorecords+
l #o prepare derivative works based upon the wor!+
l To distribute copies or phonorecords of the wor! to
the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by
rental, lease, or lending+
l To peror! the work pub"ic"#, in the case of literary,
musical, dramatic, and choreographic wor!s, pantomimes,
and motion pictures and other audiovisual
wor!s+
l To disp"a# the work pub"ic"#$ in the case of literary,
musical, dramatic, and choreographic wor!s, pantomimes,
and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural wor!s, including
the individual images of a motion picture or
other audiovisual wor!+ and
l ,n the case of sound recordin%s$ to peror! the work
pub"ic"# by means of a di%ita" audio trans!ission&
,n addition, certain authors of wor!s of visual art have
the rights of attribution and integrity as described in section
1$%' of the 1&7% Copyright 'ct. -or further information,
re.uest Circular /$, Copyright 0egistration for
1or!s of the 2isual 'rts."
,t is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided
by the copyright law to the owner of copyright. #hese rights,
however, are not unlimited in scope. Sections 1$7 through
131 of the 1&7% Copyright 'ct establish limitations on these
rights. ,n some cases, these limitations are specified e(emptions
from copyright liability. 4ne ma5or limitation is the
doctrine of fair use," which is given a statutory basis in section
1$7 of the 1&7% Copyright 'ct. ,n other instances, the
limitation ta!es the form of a compulsory license" under
which certain limited uses of copyrighted wor!s are permitted
upon payment of specified royalties and compliance with
statutory conditions. -or further information about the limitations
of any of these rights, consult the copyright law or
write to the Copyright 4ffice.