What is a legal copyright?
A legal copyright gives the creator of an original work exclusive legal rights to that work for a designated period of time. Exclusive legal rights include publication, distribution and adaptation. After a copyright expires the work enters public domain, which means those works are not owned or controlled by any one person or entity. "Public domain" basically means that the works are public property and can be used by anyone for any purpose.
Copyright law is grouped under the umbrella of intellectual property law along with trademarks and patents. Copyright applies to a wide range of creative, intellectual, scientific, or artistic works. A copyright lawyer can help protect works such as books, poetry, theses, plays and manuscripts, other literary works, movies, dances, musical compositions, audio recordings, paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography, software, as well as radio and television broadcasts.
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