You've Got to Be Kidding!: How to Keep Your Job Without Losing Your Integrity

Copyright Basics

U.S. copyright laws exist for two major reasons: (1) to protect the creator’s right to obtain commercial benefit from his or her original work, and (2) to protect the creator’s right to control how a work is used. The “creator” can be anyone who produces a written work, published or unpublished (from e-mails and blogs to the Great American Novel), to someone who records a piece of audio, or designs a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work—and limitless other examples. And, yes, even Facebook photos and YouTube videos are included, as are any graphics or photos lifted from another Web site and used in a sales presentation (I’m talking to you, Regretful Pirate!).

Web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia.com defines copyright as:

The set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute, and adapt the work. These rights can be licensed, transferred, and/or assigned. Copyright lasts for a certain time period, after which the work is said to enter the public domain.

So while a piece of writing, a recording, or an artwork isn’t protected indefinitely, it does fall under this category for a certain amount of time, and that’s when you have to make sure you’re taking the appropriate steps.