A patent is a form of intellectual property that applies to inventions.  Patents are issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and they provide the owner with the right to exclude others from making, using, selling or offering to sell ...

Copyright infringement takes place when someone other than the copyright owner exercises rights associated with copyright ownership. Making copies, translating the work into a new language, or transferring the work into a new medium of expression without first seeking the ...

Copyright law initially grants all rights associated to copyrighted works to the creator of those works.  The copyright owner can publish the work, duplicate it, or distribute it. A copyright owner is also entirely free to transfer all or any ...

A copyright owner has total control over the use of his work. He can reproduce it, create derivative works, and perform or display it publicly. In most circumstances, if another party wants to use a copyrighted work for any purpose, ...

Copyright law prohibits anyone other than the copyright owner from exercising the exclusive rights of copying, reproduction, adaptation, and distribution, but the law recognizes works that make use of, and build upon, existing copyrighted works to encourage and facilitate additional ...

Copyright law establishes that the person who originally creates a work possesses all rights associated with the copyright. The original creator, or “author” of a work has many exclusive rights, including the right to reproduce the copyrighted work; to prepare ...

For works developed today, copyrights are created when an original work of authorship is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. There is no need to apply for copyright protection as the right exists when the work has been placed ...

Digitization of content has had a profound impact on copyright law.  Now that most forms of creative content are in digital format, and networks and devices for creating, accessing, communicating, and modifying digital material are global and readily accessible, almost ...

Copyright Protection: Ideas vs. Expressions One of the fundamental principles upon which copyright law is built is the distinction between ideas and the expression of ideas.  Copyright law protects each original expression of an idea, but not the idea, theme ...

Copyright is a form of legal protection for certain types of intellectual property.  It grants ownership and control to creators of “original” creative works that have been fixed in tangible form.  The legal basis for copyright protection is the United States Constitution, ...