Examples of copyright in a Sentence
Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 6 May 2026
The creative industries are on the front lines, with authors, artists, and musicians filing dozens of lawsuits against major AI companies for copyright infringement.
—Alice Xiang, Time, 6 May 2026
Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2026
Kelli Reynolds is a script supervisor for Inspiration, the language learning model that has copyrighted not just archetypal characters, but all tropes and plot beats, so that no human can access or create new stories.
—Literary Hub, 1 May 2026
Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Apr. 2026
As the Wall Street Journal reports, representatives issued copyright takedown requests for more than 8,000 copies and adaptations of the source code, which contains the AI firm’s underlying instructions on how to direct Claude Code.
—Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 1 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for copyright
Cite this Entry
“Copyright.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/copyright. Accessed 9 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
copyright
1 of 2 noun
copyright
2 of 2 verbLegal Definition
copyright
1 of 2 noun
Note: Copyrights are governed by the Copyright Act of 1976 contained in title 17 of the U.S. Code. The Act protects published or unpublished works that are fixed in a tangible medium of expression from which they can be perceived. The Act does not protect matters such as an idea, process, system, or discovery. Protection under the Act extends for the life of the creator of the work plus seventy years after his or her death. For works created before January 1, 1978, but not copyrighted or in the public domain, the copyright starts on January 1, 1978, and extends for the same period as for other works, but in any case will not expire before December 31, 2002. If a work is published on or before December 31, 2002, the copyright will not expire before December 31, 2047. The Act abolishes protection under common law, as well as any rights available under state statute, in favor of the rights available under the provisions of the Act, with certain exceptions.
copyright
2 of 2 transitive verb
