Copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of "original works of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished. It gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work, to perform the copyrighted work publicly, or to display the copyrighted work publicly.

 

Copyright protects the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the writing.

 

For more information on U.S. copyright, please visit:

https://www.uspto.gov/ip-policy/copyright-policy/copyright-basics

https://www.copyright.gov/