What Copyright Covers [1]

Copyright law applies to any original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible medium of expression, and gives copyright owners certain rights to control the use and distribution of their work. The following two sections explain the two concepts in more detail:

• Copyrightable Subject Matter [2] - the works that are covered by copyright law.


• Rights Granted Under Copyright [3] - the rights granted to copyright owners to control the use of their work.

If you are interested in information on who can own a copyright and how to use the copyrighted work of others, see the sections on Copyright Ownership [4] and Using the Work of Others [5] for discussion of these topics.