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Welcome to the Copyright Website

Launched on May Day 1995, the Copyright Website strives to lubricate the machinations of information delivery. As spice is to Dune, information is to the web; the spice must flow.

  • Specialized information for webmasters, musicians, moviemakers, screenwriters, programmers and photographers.
  • General copyright information for educators, students, web-surfers, re-mixers, mash-uppers and confused citizens.

See the notorious fights over copyright on the big screen.

Movies, TV, and more

Movies readMovies, TV, and more read

Hear the samplers, appropriators, copiers, alleged pillagers of copyright and fair users.

Music, Podcasts, and more

Music readMusic, Podcasts, and more read

A look at some of the bleeding edge issues involving software and the Internet.

Web, Software, and more

Interwebs readWeb, Software, and more read

Get up to speed on the basics of Copyright Law.

Basics, History, and more

Info readBasics, History, and more read

Copyright law is a little different depending on where you are; check out your country.

Registration, legislation, and more

Global readRegistration, legislation, and more read
Copyright
Patent
Trademark

What is Copyright?

Here in the information age, virtually all intellectual creations can be protected by some form of intellectual property law. Intellectual property divides the universe intellectual creations into three domains:

  • Copyrights
  • Patents
  • Trademarks

In a nutshell, copright protects expression, trademark protects names, and patents protect ideas.

Copyright protects creative expression that has been reduced to tangible form, such as a book, piece of recorded music, computer program, screenplay, painting, photograph, or motion picture.

Trademark protects brand names, literally marking items in trade. The idea behind trademark is to protect the consumer by giving them some confidence that items branded with a certain mark are authentic and come from where they purport to come from.

Patent protects innovation. While you cant copyright an idea, you can patent one. The idea behind patent is to encourage innovation by giving inventors a limited monopoly on their ideas.

Learn the Basics