What is a copyright?
Copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. a copyright generally gives the owner, for a period of time (usually life of the author + 70 years, or up to 120 years for works for hire) the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following: to reproduce the work, to prepare derivative works based upon the work; to distribute copies of the work to the public, to perform the work publicly, and to display the work publicly. a copyright exists immediately upon creation of a work, however, registering that copyright provides additional protections. Copyright registration is fairly inexpensive and easy to obtain. In the United States, copyright registration is handled by the U.S. Copyright Office.
A copyright gives the author or copyright owner the exclusive right to make copies of their creative work for the life of the author plus seventy years. A copyright also gives the owner control of derivative works (e.g. plays, motion pictures, or other adaptations of the work), as well as exclusive rights to display and perform the work.
Federal law provides copyright protection in “musical works, including any accompanying words.” Musical works include original compositions, original arrangements, new arrangements of the composition, lyrics, and sound recordings. The rights given to a copyright holder include the exclusive rights to reproduce the copyrighted works (i.e., to make copies), to prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted music, to sell, rent, lend or transfer ownership of copies, and to perform the copyrighted musical work publicly or by means of an audio transmission.
