copyrighted

1. 1
   adjective

   Protected by an active copyright and therefore not part of the public domain.

   The publisher confirmed that all the photographs in the book were copyrighted.

   Distributing copyrighted material without a license can lead to legal action.

   Similarprotected, proprietary

   Oppositeuncopyrighted, free

   Note

   A legal status rather than a quality, so it takes no degrees: a work is either under protection or it is not, and nothing is "very copyrighted." While the right lasts, its holder controls who may reproduce, distribute or adapt the work. Once it ends, the work belongs to the public domain. Compare the past-tense verb, which names the act of securing that protection rather than the resulting state.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of copyright.

   The company copyrighted its software shortly after release.

   Once the manuscript was copyrighted, the author felt secure sharing drafts.

   Note

   A regular -ed form, because the verb is built on right, the legal entitlement, and not on write: the company has copyrighted its software, and the software was copyrighted. In formal use it means protection was secured. An informal, nonstandard use points the other way. A video that got copyrighted was flagged for infringement, not protected. In careful writing, say flagged or struck instead.

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