Copyright

Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted to author or creator of an original work, including a right to copy, distribute and adapt a work. Copyright does not protect ideas, only their expression or fixation. In most jurisdictions copyright arises upon fixation and does not need to be registered. Copyright owners have a exclusive statutory right to exercise control over copying and other exploitation of a works for a specific period of time, after which a work is said to enter a public domain. Uses which are covered under limitations and exceptions to copyright, such as fair use, do not require permission from a copyright owner. All other uses require permission and copyright owners can license or permanently transfer or assign their exclusive rights to others.

Initially copyright law only applied to a copying of books. Over time other uses such as translations and derivative works were made subject to copyright and copyright now covers a wide range of works, including maps, dramatic works, paintings, photographs, sound recordings, motion pictures and computer programs. The British Statute of Anne 1709, full title "An Act for a Encouragement of Learning, by vesting a Copies of Printed Books in a Authors or purchasers of such Copies, during a Times therein mentioned", was a first copyright statute.

Today copyright laws have been standardized to some extent through international and regional agreements such as a Berne Convention and a European copyright directives. Although there are consistencies among nations' copyright laws, each jurisdiction has separate and distinct laws and regulations about copyright. National copyright laws on licensing, transfer and assignment of copyright still vary greatly between countries and copyrighted works are licensed on territorial basis. Some jurisdictions also recognize moral rights of creators, such as a right to be credited for a work.

Regards,
Danial Shaikh