An adequate definition of copyright requires more than a single
sentence.
The idea underlying copyright is that the expression of an idea
is property — intellectual property — and its
creator has the right control what happens to it. The term copyright
literally means the right to copy.
Let's say you wrote a historical novel. You cannot become a rich,
famous novelist if you have just a single copy of your work, no
matter how great it is. The value of that novel depends entirely
on your getting copies of it before the public.
The US Constitution provided legal copyright protection for authors
just as it provided patent protection for inventors. The founding
fathers thought it unlikely that you (or anyone else) would write
or invent for long if you feared that every Tom, Dick, and Harriet
could copy your work, sell it, and pocket the profits.
You cannot copyright an idea
The definition of copyright and copyright protection covers only
the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. In the
case of literary and artistic works, the ideas they contain may
be very common; what is unique is the way the ideas are expressed.
As a copyright owner, you can make as many copies of your novel
as you wish. You can give or sell copies to Tom, Dick, and Harriet
without giving up your copyright.
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Tom can give his copy of your novel to the annual library
book sale, but he cannot make additional copies of your book.
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Dick can sell his copy of your historical novel on eBay, but
he cannot make additional copies of it.
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Harriet can buy the rights to produce a film version of your
novel but she cannot make additional copies of your novel.
As the copyright holder, you are the only person with the right
to copy the content of your book. Anyone else who wants that historical
novel has to get it from you.
How copyright is secured
Under current US law, when someone puts an original work of writing,
drawing, photograph, or music into a tangible format such
as a piece of paper, computer file, canvas, audio tape, that work
is covered by copyright law.
The copyright is the author's legal property from the moment the
work is complete. In other words:
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The creator does not need to put a copyright symbol
© or copyright notice on the work to secure copyright.
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The creator does not have to file any forms
to secure copyright.
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The creator does not have to pay a fee to
secure copyright.
You might think of copyright as an invisible tag attached
to each work: "Do not copy under penalty of law."
