Copyright

What's the deal with the © ?

What is copyright?

Why should you care about copyright?

► What does copyright protect and what does it NOT protect?

What are works in the "public domain?"

What is "fair use?"

How can you avoid copyright infringement?

Is it copyright infringement?
(interactive game)

What does copyright protect?

Copyright law protects works that have been fixed in a tangible medium, such as on paper, compact disk, canvas, VCR tape, DVD, the Web, etc.  Examples include

• literary works - books, stories, poems, plays, newspaper and magazine articles, etc.
   

• music
   

• artwork - paintings, sculpture, photographs etc.
   
• movies, videos, and animations
   
• computer software
   
• Web pages

What does copyright NOT protect?

Works that cannot be copyrighted include

• ideas or concepts not fixed in a tangible medium
   
• factual information
   
• titles, short phrases, slogans and logos - however, these may be protected by trademark law
   
• works in the public domain - works of the U.S. Government and works for which the copyright has expired