Introduction: What Is Copyright?

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

I. INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?

What is copyright? In simplest terms, it is the grant of a property-like interest in original works of authorship—a novel, a motion picture, a simple letter—which is fixed in a tangible medium of expression: a book, a reel of film, a piece of paper. The grant is given to the author for a limited time by the federal government or, under very limited circumstances, the common law.

Nearly all of those words in the paragraph above have special meanings. For example, the word "property" means a bundle of rights that are exclusive to the author. One of those rights is the right to make copies, hence "copyright"—but others are more esoteric, or not exclusive, or not part of copyright at all. The right to sell a book bought on Amazon.com belongs to the buyer, for example, not the author, so selling the book does not infringe upon or violate the author's copyright. This is codified as the "first sale doctrine," and will be discussed more fully in Part 5 below.

What is the purpose of copyright? Copyright exists primarily to encourage authorship through the grant of rights alluded to above and discussed more fully in the sections below. Through authorship, knowledge and wisdom are presumptively spread throughout the society, and everyone benefits, if indirectly, from the exclusive rights granted the author.

The paradox, of course, is that copyright law is designed to promote learning by limiting the speech of those who might build on the author's work. That phenomenon has brought copyright law into...