Copyright & Media Registration & Protection:
Copyright is a legal term describing ownership of control of the rights to the use and distribution of certain works of creative expression, including books, video, movies, music and computer programs. Historically, copyright law has been enacted to balance the desire of cultures to use and reuse creative works (thus creating “derivative work”) against the desire of the creators of art, literature, music and the like to monetize their work by controlling who can make and sell copies of the work.
To strike this balance, the exclusivity of control is almost always restricted to a set period of years, after which a copyright-protected work reverts to the public domain and may be freely used. Under current law in the U.S., works created after Jan. 1, 1978, are afforded copyright protection for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. For anonymous, pseudonymous and corporate-owned works, a copyright lasts 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.
The copyright holder is often a company or corporation. If a work is created as a component of employment (“work for hire”), then the copyright for the work defaults to the employer.
