Copyright Ownership Rights and Term
Copyright ownership gives creators a set of exclusive rights over their work. These rights control how the work gets used, shared, and monetized. Understanding both what rights exist and how long they last is central to copyright law.
Six Exclusive Rights of Copyright
Copyright holders receive six distinct rights under the law. Each one covers a different way someone might use a copyrighted work.
- Reproduction right grants the owner the ability to make copies of their work. This covers photocopying a book, downloading a song file, or duplicating a film.
- Adaptation right allows the owner to prepare derivative works based on the original. A derivative work is a new work that transforms or builds on the existing one. Examples include translating a novel into Spanish, arranging a pop song for orchestra, or turning a book into a stage play.
- Distribution right enables the owner to distribute copies of their work to the public through sale (selling books in a store), rental (renting DVDs), lease, or lending (a library lending books).
- Public performance right grants the owner the ability to perform their work publicly. This applies to literary works (poetry readings), musical works (concerts), dramatic works (plays), choreographic works (dance performances), and motion pictures (film screenings).
- Public display right allows the owner to display their work publicly. This covers literary works (a poem on a poster), musical works (sheet music in a window), pictorial works (paintings in a gallery), graphic works (illustrations), and sculptural works (statues in a public space).
- Digital audio transmission right grants the owner the right to perform sound recordings publicly through digital audio transmission. Streaming music services like Spotify are the most common example. This right was added later than the others to address digital technology.
Together, these six rights form the basis for copyright protection. If someone exercises any of these rights without authorization, that can give rise to a copyright infringement claim.
Copyright Terms for Different Creators
Copyright doesn't last forever. How long it lasts depends on who created the work.
- Individual authors: The copyright term extends for the life of the author plus 70 years after the author's death. For example, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels are protected for her lifetime plus 70 years.
- Joint works: These are created by two or more authors who intend their contributions to merge into a single work, like a songwriting duo. The copyright term lasts for the life of the last surviving author plus 70 years. So for Lennon-McCartney songs, the clock started when the last surviving co-author died.
- Works for hire: These are either works created by an employee within the scope of their employment (software developed by a company's programmer) or specially commissioned works that fall under specific statutory categories with a signed written agreement (photography commissioned for a magazine). The copyright term is 95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first. Notice that works for hire are not tied to anyone's lifespan.
After a copyright term expires, the work enters the public domain, meaning anyone can use it freely without permission.
First-Sale Doctrine and Distribution
The first-sale doctrine is an important limit on the distribution right. Once a copyright owner sells a lawful copy of their work, the buyer can resell, lend, or give away that particular copy without needing the owner's permission.
This is why used bookstores, libraries, and online marketplaces for used textbooks can operate legally. The copyright owner's control over distribution ends after the first sale of each individual copy.
A key distinction: the first-sale doctrine applies to the physical copy you purchased. It does not give you the right to make new copies of the work.
Copyright Limitations and Exceptions
Two major mechanisms limit the reach of copyright:
- Fair use doctrine allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission for purposes such as criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. Fair use is evaluated on a case-by-case basis (you'll likely cover the four-factor test in more detail separately).
- Licensing agreements allow copyright owners to grant specific permissions for use of their work, typically in exchange for payment or royalties. Licensing doesn't transfer ownership; it just authorizes particular uses under agreed-upon terms.