Copyright

Copyrights are intangible rights granted by the federal Copyright Act to authors or creators of original artistic or literary works that can be fixed in a tangible [Page 202]means of expression such as hard copies, electronic files, videos, or audio recordings. The Copyright Act protects literary, musical, dramatic, choreographic, pictorial, sculptural, and architectural works as well as motion pictures and sound recordings. Each copy-rightable work has several “copyrights”-the rights to make copies of the work, distribute the work, prepare “derivative works,” and perform or display the work publicly. Each author or creator may transfer one or more of these copyrights to others. For example, book authors who wish their books to be used in schools sell the copying and distribution rights to publishers in return ...