How Copyright Protection Works
Copyright is the quiet workhorse of IP law, protecting everything from blog posts to software code the moment they are written down or saved.
Unlike patents and trademarks, copyright needs no filing to exist, though registration adds crucial enforcement power that automatic protection does not include.
What copyright protects
- Original works of authorship fixed in a tangible form
- Writing, art, music, film and photography
- Software code and website content
- Architectural works and sound recordings
What it does not protect
- Ideas, facts and concepts themselves
- Names, titles and short phrases
- Functional methods and processes
- Works not fixed in a tangible form
Understand the boundary between expression and idea, and you know exactly what your copyright actually covers.
Protecting your expression
Copyright protects the specific way you express an idea, so the same concept can have many different protected works.
- Protect your specific expression
- Do not confuse ideas with expression
- Register for enforcement power