Copyright Law Overview

Most people realize that copyright laws protect works of art like poems, short stories, photographs, paintings, drawings and musical compositions. It may be less obvious that copyright also protects such diverse materials as advertising copy, instruction manuals, brochures, logo designs, computer programs, term papers, home movies, cartoon strips and advertising jingles.

This section describes what you can and cannot copyright and what is required to obtain a copyright.

You can also find information on how to register your copyright, what rights you get when you register, how long your copyright protection lasts, how you can protect your copyright and when you can use others' copyrighted work.

This section also explores the impact the Internet is having on copyright laws.