Copyright & Licensing Rules
A copyright is a form of legal protection for creative works that allows the holder the exclusive right to control who can use, distribute, sell, publish, copy or create derivatives of the work. Although every nation has its own slightly differing set of copyright laws, international treaties such as the Berne Convention have standardized the basics of copyright law among most nations. The holder of a copyright is free to license the copyrighted work to another party, normally in exchange for royalties.
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Copyright Ownership
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The owner of a copyright is either the creator of the copyrighted work, the creator's employer (in the case of a work-for-hire) or the creator's heirs (after the creator dies). The holder of the copyright is generally the party who is entitled to license the use of the work to another party.
Copyright Registration
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In most countries, it is not necessary to register a copyright--theoretically, the creator of a work automatically gains copyright protection as soon as he reduces the work to tangible form (such as writing a book or recording a song). The work need not be published in order to obtain worldwide copyright protection. As a practical matter, registration of a copyright with a Berne Convention country (such as the United States) may be necessary in order to establish the identity of the creator of the work.
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Copyright Duration
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A copyright is created the moment that a creative work is reduced to tangible form, and endures for a period set by the law of the nation that offers protection (in most cases, 70 to 75 years after the death of the creator). It is important to remember that in the case of a work-for-hire, the duration of a copyright is still measured by the lifetime of the actual creator. After the copyright expires, the work is said to enter the "public domain," meaning that anyone is free to use it.
Gaps in Copyright Protection
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There are two major exceptions to copyright protection. One is called "fair use"--anyone may use a small portion of a copyrighted work (a quote from a book, for example) without permission of the copyright holder as long as the creator is properly credited. Another exception is called the "first sale" doctrine--anyone may sell a second-hand copy of a copyrighted work without paying royalties (second-hand bookstores, for example).
Licensing Agreements
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A copyright holder may license the use of the copyrighted work to another party. It is important to remember that it is the copyright holder, not necessarily the creator, who holds the right to license the work. For example, if a company hires its employee to create a work-for-hire, the company may license the work to a third party; the employee/creator may not. The licensing of a copyright is accomplished through a written copyright licensing agreement.
Licensing Restrictions
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Parties to a copyright licensing agreement have broad freedom to determine its terms--a copyright license may be exclusive or non-exclusive; temporary or perpetual; worldwide or local. However, the term of a "perpetual" copyright licensing agreement may extend no longer than the duration of the underlying copyright. Furthermore, although a copyright holder may grant non-exclusive licenses to a work to many different parties, the terms of multiple licensing agreements may not conflict with each other (an exclusive license granted to more than one party, for example). Licensing of computer software copyrights sometimes run into difficulty when it is found that the software in question incorporates elements owned by more than one copyright holder, only one of which is a party to the licensing agreement.
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