copyright

UK/ˈkɒpiˌɹaɪt/US/ˈkɑpiˌɹaɪt/

nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,931 of 15,258leans writtentechnical · an editor’s judgement

Other forms: copyrights

It arises automatically the moment a work is fixed in some form, so no registration is needed, which surprises people. It lasts for the author's life plus seventy years in most countries, after which the work enters the public domain. It covers books, music, photographs, software and a great deal else. Fair dealing and fair use allow limited copying for review or education. The verb is to copyright, and infringement is the breach.

Definitions of copyright

1nouncopyrightThe exclusive legal right to reproduce and sell a creative work.C1
“The copyright expires seventy years after the author's death.”

Where it comes from

From copy + right.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Crime & Law

Practise this word

copyright in the wild

Typically, the first owner of a copyright is the creator of the copyrighted work, i.e., the author.
Author
The United States Copyright Office, for example, defines copyright as "a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S.
Author
Some jurisdictions require "fixing" copyrighted works in a tangible form.
Copyright
Typically, the public law duration of a copyright expires 50 to 100 years after the creator dies, depending on the jurisdiction.
Copyright
Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder.
Fair use

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

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