Copyright Applies to You If

• You have created a copyrighted work, or
• You want to use someone else's copyrighted work

What is Copyright?

Copyright is a federal law (Title 17 of the United States Code) that protects the rights of individuals who bring certain creative works into being.  This law also defines what those works are, and how they may be used by others.  Creative works can include any of the following:

• Literary works (including almost all text-based media, to include computer code)
• Musical scores and lyrics
• Plays and dramas (including accompany music)
• Choreographies
• Paintings, drawings, photos, sculptures and other graphic or visual works
• Movies and videos
• Sound recordings
• Architectural works

In order to be covered under copyright law, a creative work must be “fixed in tangible form”.  This means that the work must be written down, recorded on video or audio, painted, drawn, or saved as a file. 

The work must be able to be “copied”.  In other words, it cannot be just an idea, process, method, concept, or principle.  It has to be a physical creation that is in some sort of permanent state that allows it to be perceived, copied, or transferred to other people.

When a person creates one of these works, that creative work is protected by the copyright law from the moment it is created.  You may want to register your work with the copyright office for additional protections, but registration is not necessary in order for a work to be protected.

The person or group who created the work is the owner of the copyright.  

The exception to this is when a work is created as part of the regular duties of employment or under a contract.  This is referred to as work made for hire.  In this case, the employer or entity who commissioned the work owns the copyright.  Auburn University’s copyright policies provide more freedom than generally allowed under law.  Please refer to the university’s copyright policies for more details and clarification.

Rights of the Copyright Owner