Congress enacted the first federal copyright law in May 1790, and the first work was registered within two weeks. In 1897, the Copyright Office became a separate department of the Library of Congress and since then the Copyright Office has registered more than 30,000,000 claims to copyright and mask works, providing more than 126 million deposits (including books, serials, motion pictures, music, sound recordings, maps, prints, pictures, and computer works) to the Library of Congress.

A copyright is granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. A copyright owner has the right to reproduce his or her work, to prepare derivative copies, to distribute the work, and to prepare or perform the work publicly. The copyright owner can prevent others from copying, making derivative works of, performing, distributing, or selling copies or counterfeits of original works of authorship, such as music, lyrics, books, plays, poems, paintings, sculpture, photographs, architectural designs, and software. Copyright, however, does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed.

For more information, see our post: What are the Basics of Copyrights?

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What are the Basics of Copyright Law?

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