copyright

1 of 3

noun

copy·​right ˈkä-pē-ˌrīt How to pronounce copyright (audio)
: 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 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
The company has sued one major AI firm, Stable Diffusion, alleging that its image generators infringe on the copyright of real photos to which Getty owns the rights. Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 23 Nov. 2023 Those examples test the application of the fair use doctrine in copyright law, which allows creators to play with existing copyrights. Tom Roland, Billboard, 22 Nov. 2023 Even many copyright and intellectual property scholars see it as a long shot. Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 22 Nov. 2023 Under copyright law, a test of substantial similarity is used to assess the degree of similarity to determine whether infringement has occurred. Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Nov. 2023 YouTube’s new feature, by contrast, is a direct collaboration with some of the industry’s largest copyright holders. Ethan Millman, Rolling Stone, 17 Nov. 2023 That suit, also filed in the Northern District of California, claims that two individuals have created at least 65 Google accounts to submit thousands of fraudulent notices of copyright infringement against more than 117,000 websites. TIME, 13 Nov. 2023 This trend underscores the growing emphasis on developing and safeguarding intellectual property assets such as patents, trademarks and copyrights. Joseph K. Hopkins, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023 There is considerable ambiguity as to how copyright law applies to data used for training AI, and different countries are likely to reach different conclusions. IEEE Spectrum, 8 Nov. 2023
Verb
Billboard pointed out the opinion filed on November 1st (PDF), where US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Paez wrote that even if individual elements of a dance can’t be copyrighted, the arrangement can. Wes Davis, The Verge, 4 Nov. 2023 Tech companies have grown increasingly secretive about the contents of these data sets, partially because the text and images included often contain copyrighted, inaccurate or even obscene material. Szu Yu Chen, Washington Post, 1 Nov. 2023 Courtesy of United States Copyright Office An award-winning piece of AI art cannot be copyrighted, the US Copyright Office has ruled. Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 6 Sep. 2023 The complication of the recent court ruling that artworks generated entirely by artificial intelligence cannot be copyrighted is easily overcome. Stephen R. Greenwald, Fortune, 4 Sep. 2023 For example, writers want to be able to use this technology as part of their creative process, without changing how credits are determined, which is complicated given AI material can’t be copyrighted. David Ingram, NBC News, 23 Aug. 2023 The artists’ suit revolves around the argument that the practice of feeding these systems copyrighted works constitutes intellectual property theft. Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Aug. 2023 Meanwhile, a judge ruled last week that AI art can’t be copyrighted. Bethy Squires, Vulture, 21 Aug. 2023 He was advised to copyright the term, but decided not to, so other providers could more easily adopt it. Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 12 July 2023
Adjective
Posting clips just under three minutes usually allows accounts to escape copyright laws under the Fair Use Doctrine, as posting full episodes without a break would incur takedowns on platforms like Twitter or YouTube, communications professor Lindsay Hahn tells Rolling Stone. Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2023 Humans of Bombay has filed a claim against People of India, a similar photography platform, for copyright infringement in Delhi’s High Court. Niha Masih, Washington Post, 26 Sep. 2023 While many popular characters already exist in the public domain, there isn't much precedent for the impending wave of copyright expirations of iconic 20th-century cartoons, superheroes and literary heroes. Theara Coleman, The Week, 13 July 2023 In particular, the caucus will look at copyright issues, piracy, artificial intelligence and labor in these spheres. Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 July 2023 The company insists it’s remained tight-lipped about data sources to prevent its work from being copied by rivals, but if forced to disclose such information, OpenAI and other large tech companies could become the subject of copyright lawsuits. Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 20 June 2023 Even major releases, like De La Soul’s Three Feet High and Rising, can get caught in the copyright weeds. Angela Watercutter, WIRED, 10 Aug. 2023 Up until the 1970s, copyright terms in the United States lasted for only 56 years. Theara Coleman, The Week, 13 July 2023 Getty Images sued Stability AI for copyright infringement in February, alleging that the company copied 12 million images to train its A.I. model without a legal basis for using them. Andrea Guzman, Fortune, 27 June 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'copyright.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of copyright was in 1735

Dictionary Entries Near copyright

Cite this Entry

“Copyright.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/copyright. Accessed 28 Nov. 2023.

Kids Definition

copyright

1 of 2 noun
copy·​right -ˌrīt How to pronounce copyright (audio)
: 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 How to pronounce copyright (audio)
: 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 adjective
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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