copyright

1 of 3

noun

copy·​right ˈkä-pē-ˌrīt 

: the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something (such as a literary, musical, or artistic work)

His family still holds the copyright to his songs.

copyright

2 of 3

verb

copyrighted; copyrighting; copyrights

transitive verb

: to secure a copyright on

He has copyrighted all of his plays.

copyrightable

ˈkä-pē-ˌrī-tə-bəl 

adjective

copyright

3 of 3

adjective

: secured by copyright

copyright songs

Examples of copyright in a Sentence

Noun

His family still holds the copyright to his songs.

The book is under copyright.

Verb

He has copyrighted all of his plays.

Adjective

The copyright date is 2005.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

If the court rules that Anthropic knowingly violated copyright law, the resulting fines could be enormous, potentially in the billions, even at the lower end of the scale. —Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 28 July 2025

These activities constitute a serious violation of copyright law and other applicable laws and regulations. —Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025

Verb

All of my songs that have never been copyrighted, having been available for free for so long, are now also in the public domain. —Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 27 July 2025

Eligible films must have been copyrighted in 2024, 2025, or 2026, and may be no longer than 25 minutes. —Rance Collins, IndieWire, 10 July 2025

Adjective

The landmark ruling is especially consequential because almost every major AI model developer–including OpenAI and Perplexity–has been hit with copyright lawsuits from an ensemble of artists, news companies, musicians and others. —Rashi Shrivastava, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025

Last month, five justices’ recusals forced the court to decline an appeal in a copyright lawsuit against author Ta-Nehisi Coates. —Ella Lee, The Hill, 18 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1735, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1806, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1870, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for copyright

• acolyte
• aconite
• allanite
• alunite
• amberlite
• ammonite
• amorite
• amphitrite
• analyte
• anchorite
• andesite
• anhydrite

Kids Definition

copyright

1 of 2 noun

copy·​right -ˌrīt 

: the legal right to be the only one to reproduce, publish, or sell the contents and form of a literary, musical, or artistic work

copyright adjective

copyright

2 of 2 verb

: to get a copyright on

Legal Definition

copyright

1 of 2 noun

copy·​right ˈkä-pē-ˌrīt 

: a person's exclusive right to reproduce, publish, or sell his or her original work of authorship (as a literary, musical, dramatic, artistic, or architectural work) see also common-law copyright, fair use at use sense 2, infringe, intellectual property at property, international copyright, original, public domain compare patent, trademark

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 adjective

copyright

2 of 2 transitive verb

: to secure a copyright on

copyrightability

ˌkä-pē-ˌrī-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē

noun

copyrightable

ˈkä-pē-ˌrī-tə-bəl 

adjective