What rights does copyright provide?
The original creators of works protected by copyright, and their heirs, have certain basic rights. They hold the exclusive right to use or authorize others to use the work on agreed terms. The creator of a work can prohibit or authorize: • its reproduction in various forms, such as printed publication or sound recording; • its public performance, as in a play or musical work; • recordings of it, for example, in the form of compact discs, cassettes or videotapes; • its broadcasting, by radio, cable or satellite; • its translation into other languages, or its adaptation, such as a novel into a screenplay. Many creative works protected by copyright require mass distribution, communication and financial investment for their dissemination (for example, publications, sound recordings and films); hence, creators often sell the rights to their works to individuals or companies best able to market the works in return for payment. These payments are often made dependent on the actual use of the
