"Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the UnitedStates (Title 17, CFR) and internationally by agreement with member nationsto the Universal Copyright Convention and the Berne Convention for theProtection of Literary and Artistic Works. Copyright is a personal propertyright, and is subject to the various laws regarding ownership and transferof personal property.

Copyright law protects works both published and unpublished, includinggraphics and drawings, digital or otherwise. Copyright protection existsfrom the moment a work is created in fixed form. It is coincident withthe process of authorship. The copyright to any created work immediatelybecomes the property of the author at the moment of authorship.

A copyright need not be formally applied for, nor formally granted:Itis automatic.

Proof of copyright ownership is enhanced by registering the copyright,but copyright ownership is not created by registration. Copyrightprotection is also enhanced by giving "notice of copyright" on the workitself.

Notice of copyright consists of:
 

1. The word "Copyright" or the symbol ©, followed by
2. The date of creation, and
3. The author's name.

Only the author of a work can rightfully claim copyright. Amongother kinds of work, copyright protects literary, pictorial, graphic, andarchitectural works.

Transfers of copyright ownership are made by contract. A work especiallycommissioned, such as a piece of writing, or design, or book, or graphicis the copyrighted property of the author. The parties may of course expresslyagree in a written instrument signed by them that the copyright is to betransferred to a party other than the author. However, without such a contract,a commissioned work belongs entirely to the author.

Copyright endures for the author's life, plus 50 years. In thecase of works "made for hire," where ownership is transferred by contractto a party other than the author, copyright endures for 100 years fromcreation, or for 75 years from the date of publishing, whichever is shorter."