It’s important to know about Copyright because it provides protection for the authors of original works. It usually gives the creator of an original work the sole right to do and to authorize any of the following: reproduction, public performance, distribution, adaptation, translation and making any derivative works. And that is why it’s important for both creators and consumers to know about copyright.Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize any of the following:(1)to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;(4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly;(5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and(6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.The exclusive rights of the copyright owner are subject to certain limitations found in sections 107 through 122 of the 1976 Copyright Act. These limitations include the doctrine of "fair use" and the first-sale doctrine.
