# copyright

Pronunciation: say "KO-pee-ryt" US /ˈkɑpiˌɹaɪt/, UK /ˈkɒpiˌɹaɪt/

## Noun

1. A legal right giving its holder sole authority to decide who may publish, copy, or distribute a creative work such as a book, song, or image.
   - Simple: A legal right that lets the person who made a book, song, or picture decide who can copy or share it.
   - _Copyright protects authors from having their work reproduced without consent._
   - _Under current law, copyright lasts for the life of the author plus seventy years._
2. An exclusive legal right covering one or more particular works, treated as a single ownable thing that can be bought, sold, or transferred.
   - Simple: A legal right over one piece of work that someone can own, buy, or sell.
   - _The studio acquired the copyright to the original screenplay before filming began._
   - _Several copyrights in the estate were transferred to the foundation after the author's death._
4. The act of breaking copyright law by copying or using protected work without permission. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: The act of breaking copyright rules by copying work without the owner's permission.
   - _Reposting the photographer's images without credit is straight-up copyright._
   - _He got a warning that uploading the full album counts as copyright._

## Verb

3. To obtain or secure legal copyright protection for a literary, musical, or artistic work.
   - Simple: To get legal protection for a book, song, or picture you made, so others cannot copy it.
   - _The author copyrighted her manuscript before submitting it to publishers._
   - _Independent musicians often copyright before releasing any tracks._
5. To report someone's content as breaking copyright rules, typically to have it removed. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: To report a video or post for breaking copyright rules so it gets taken down.
   - _The studio copyrighted the fan edit within hours of its upload._
   - _Big labels will copyright any clip that includes their tracks._

## Origin

Formed from 'copy' plus 'right'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/copyright (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).