Copyright is all about balancing the rights of authors with the rights of the public to use the work without seeking permission or paying royalties. Under copyright, authors have the right to control the use of their work subject to exceptions permitted under the law. If the use exceeds such exceptions, then infringing on someone's copyright can result in the infringer paying money damages (civil liability) and/or going to prison (criminal liability). To understand your rights and responsibilities under the copyright law, review the basics and the exceptions.

• Copyright is a federal law. It is Title 17 of the United States Code.
• Copyright is the right of authors to control the use of their work for a limited period of time.
• A copyrighted work must be an original work of authorship which is fixed in a tangible medium of expression.

Copyright law originated with the United States Constitution. In Article I, Section 8, the Constitution states that "Congress shall have the power...To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries".

• The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is responsible for overseeing the administrative functions of the copyright law.
• Congress enacts copyright laws.
• The Federal courts interpret and enforce the copyright law.

A work becomes copyrighted when it is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. After March 1, 1989 works no longer require a copyright notice (© or the word copyright, the author´s name and the year of publication). Copyright registration is also no longer required. However, it is wise to affix a copyright notice to works so that the owner of the copyright can be easily identified.

Eight categories of works are copyrightable:

• Literary, musical and dramatic works.
• Pantomimes and choreographic works.
• Pictorial, graphic and sculptural works.
• Sound recordings.
• Motion pictures and other AV works.
• Computer programs.
• Compilations of works and derivative works.
• Architectural works.

The owner of a copyright has six exclusive rights:

• To reproduce the work.
• To distribute the work.
• To create derivative works*.
• To publicly perform* the work.
• To publicly display* the work.
• To publicly perform sound recordings by means of a digital audio transmission.

Works created on or after January 1, 1978 are protected for a term of the life of the author plus 70 years. If it is a corporate author then the protection is for the shorter of 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation. Works created and published prior to 1978 may be protected for different lengths of time.

For more information regarding the length of a copyright, please see the copyright duration chart from Cornell University.

Example: Author James Michener died in 1997. His works such as Alaska, Texas, and The Eagle and the Raven, which were all created after 1978, are protected under the copyright law until 2067.

Copyright infringement is the act of violating any of a copyright owner’s exclusive rights granted by the federal Copyright Act.  There are three elements that must be in place in order for the infringement to occur.

• The copyright holder must have a valid copyright.
• The person who is allegedly infringing must have access to the copyrighted work.
• The duplication of the copyrighted work must be outside the exceptions.
   

The legal penalties for copyright infringement are:

• Infringer pays the actual dollar amount of damages and profits.
• The law provides a range from $200 to $150,000 for each work infringed.
• Infringer pays for all attorneys fees and court costs.
• The Court can issue an injunction to stop the infringing acts.
• The Court can impound the illegal works.
• The infringer can go to jail.