A copyright statement protects an original work or creation from being used by someone other than the owner or copyright holder. The terms of a copyright have gained increasing media attention with technology advances providing more avenues for piracy.

Copyright Protection

Any original work is the property of the creator. The work's creator holds the rights to that creation, and by having copyright, protects her work from being duplicated by someone else. In the event that someone tries to duplicate a copyrighted work, the owner of the copyright can file a lawsuit and obtain any revenue made by the individual who violated the copyright.

Work Created for Hire

Although copyright is granted to the creator of an original work, if that work is created on behalf of a company, the company owns the copyright. The creator would be considered to be working as an agent of the company in this case, therefore the work belongs to the company it was created for.

Enforcement

Copyright violations are typically considered to be a civil infraction, and are handled in civil court. What this means to you is that they are rarely tried as a criminal offense, which would be punishable by jail.

Exceptions

Fair use of copyrighted materials is considered as an exception to the copyright restrictions. Fair use refers to things such as private viewings of movies in your home. Showing movies and charging admission or making money from it is considered to be a violation of the copyright laws.

Duration

Copyrights are typically valid for 50 years from the date that it was filed. There are exceptions to this, and in some cases copyrights are held indefinitely, even extending after death.

Source:

United States Copyright Office