Media Law Handbook

Copyright Law


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5. How long is a work protected?
3. What isn’t protected?

4. When does a work become protected?

A work is protected at the moment it is fixed in a tangible medium of expression from which someone can perceive, communicate or reproduce it, such as on a piece of paper, a hard drive, a CD, the back of a napkin, a memory card, a canvas, an audiotape, a videotape or a piece of photographic film.[13]  A work that is just an idea in your head is not copyrighted.

Registration of a copyright is not required in order for a work to be fully protected.  Copyright is automatic.

References

[13] 17 U.S.C. § 102.

5. How long is a work protected?
3. What isn’t protected?

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