According to the U.S. Copyright Office, “Copyright is a form of protection provided by U.S. law to authors of ‘original works of authorship’ from the time the works are created in a fixed form” (p. 1). Fully understanding that definition requires understanding its component parts:

• An original work of authorship is “a work that is independently created by a human author and possesses at least some minimal degree of creativity” (p. 1). Works eligible for copyright protection include literary works (including nonfiction texts and computer code), musical works, dramatic works, choreographic works, pictorial works, and more. The specification of a human author is important: Works created by animals or algorithmic tools are ineligible for copyright protection. For more information, see AI & Scholarly Publishing.
   
• A work is created in a fixed form “when it is captured (either by or under the authority of an author) in a sufficiently permanent medium such that the work can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated for more than a short time” (p. 1). In other words, only works that have been recorded on paper, computer file, film, or another medium are eligible for copyright protection. So, for example, improvisational works that are witnessed in the moment but not recorded are ineligible for copyright protection.
   
• Copyright is a form of protection, but what exactly is the nature of that protection? In short, copyright gives the creator of a work the exclusive right to reproduce the work, distribute copies of the work, create derivative works based on the work, and publicly perform or display the work (p. 1). As exclusive rights, these rights cannot be exercised by anyone other than the creator, unless the creator authorizes them to do so. See the section Granting Rights to Others below.
   
• Finally, these exclusive rights exist from the time a work is fixed — it is not necessary to register the work with the U.S. Copyright Office. However, the creator does need to register the work if they seek to enforce these rights in court.
   

Learn More: For more information about these core copyright concepts, consult Copyright Basics (Circular 1) from the U.S. Copyright Office.