A copyright is a form of protection for authors of “original works of authorship,” which include literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, including software and web sites. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. The Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

• To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords
• To prepare derivative works based upon the work
• To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending
• To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works
• To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and 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.

In addition, certain authors of works of visual art have the rights of attribution and integrity as
described in the 1976 Copyright Act.

It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright law to the owner of
copyright. These rights, however, are not unlimited in scope. Sections 107 through 121 of the
1976 Copyright Act establish limitations on these rights. In some cases, these limitations are
specified exemptions from copyright liability. One major limitation is the doctrine of “fair use,”
which is given a statutory basis in section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act. In other instances, the limitation takes the form of a “compulsory license” under which certain limited uses of
copyrighted works are permitted upon payment of specified royalties and compliance with
statutory conditions.

Our firm charges $300, plus $45 government filing fee, to prepare and file a basic copyright
application. Please contact us for a consultation to see about protecting your original works of authorship.