7 basics about copyright you need to know

Most of us know about copyright and how it works. If you are interested in creating content, it’s important to know your rights. The seven facts below will hopefully help clarify some aspects. 

1. Copyright doesn’t protect ideas, concepts or facts. It also doesn’t apply to titles, names, etc.

2. Copyright extends to protect derivative works. Derivative works are works that are based on a pre-existing work. 

3. If you’re an employee of a company for whom you are creating images, music etc. the copyrights to that works belong to the company. 

4. If someone takes your picture, video or any other work from the internet and uses it for their own purposes, it is a copyright infringement.

5. Just because a work doesn’t have the “©” symbol doesn’t mean that it is not protected.

6. This is a common misconception that you can copy other people’s work if you do not sell them. This is not true, because copyright refers to the exclusive right to copy, and not just to the right to sell.

7. Copyright is instant, but registration of your copyrighted works is crucial to have your maximum protection under the law.