copyright

play

noun copy·right \ ˈkä-pē-ˌrīt \

Definition of copyright

: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.

See copyright defined for English-language learners

See copyright defined for kids

Examples of copyright in a Sentence

His family still holds the copyright to his songs.
The book is under copyright.

Recent Examples of copyright from the Web

The complaint was in the form of an order by President Trump to investigate China’s alleged theft of specific US patents, copyrights, and other intellectual property.

— The Christian Science Monitor, "Why the US demands China innovate, not steal," 16 Aug. 2017
Copyright © 2017 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Press.

— alice anderson, Good Housekeeping, "After I Survived Hurricane Katrina, My Husband Violently Attacked Me," 16 Aug. 2017
Copyright © 2017 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.

— steven lubar, Smithsonian, "A Scholar Follows a Trail of Dead Mice and Discovers a Lesson in Why Museum Collections Matter," 10 Aug. 2017
The latest move toward a more protectionist trade policy comes from a crackdown on Chinese violations of copyright law, which is admittedly a massive problem.

— dan sweeney, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Where's the real fake news?," 2 Aug. 2017
Ham isn't cool with this and seems to be representing God on a copyright beef.

— jeffrey lee puckett, The Courier-Journal, "Ark Encounter thrills gay nation with rainbow light display; Twitter explodes," 20 July 2017
Poems copyright © 2017 by Julia Morris Paul CT Poet Laureate Rennie McQuilkin selects work for CT Poets Corner by invitation.

— hartford courant, courant.com, "Loss And Affirmation: The Poems Of Julia Morris Paul," 18 July 2017
If a monkey can sue for copyright infringement, what else can a monkey do?

— Bloomberg.com, "No Monkeying Around: Court Weighs If Animal Owns Its Selfies," 12 July 2017
Canada Inc. did not copy anyone’s image, remove any copyright notice from any image, or attempt to exploit Mr. Miller’s claimed right of publicity.

— leeann duggan, Allure, "Kendall and Kylie Jenner Now Face a Lawsuit Over THAT Tupac Tee," 10 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'copyright.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of copyright

1735

Other Publishing Terms

annotate, dreadful, emend, expurgate, factoid, jump, lobster shift, redaction, referee

copyright

verb

Definition of copyright

transitive verb

:to secure a copyright on

He has copyrighted all of his plays.

—

copyrightable

play \ˈkä-pē-ˌrī-tə-bəl\ adjective

See copyright defined for English-language learners

Examples of copyright in a Sentence

He has copyrighted all of his plays.

Recent Examples of copyright from the Web

Scott Schebler wanted Bamm-Bamm, but can't use it because it's copyrighted because of its association with The Flintstones.

— zach buchanan, Cincinnati.com, "BAR: The Microwave? Explaining that and other Reds nicknames," 10 Aug. 2017
And while the specific style and name of Wham-O toys are copyrighted, their basic idea can be — and often is — imitated by competitors, who can take advantage of modern efficiency tools like inexpensive foreign labor and manufacturing costs.

— steven zeitchik, latimes.com, "Frisbees, Hula Hoops and Hacky Sacks. Southern California's Wham-O looks to reinvent its toys for the digital age," 9 Aug. 2017
Courts have ruled again and again that APIs cannot be copyrighted, only specific implementations thereof, and that reverse engineering is therefore allowed.

— jimmy maher, Ars Technica, "The complete history of the IBM PC, part two: The DOS empire strikes," 31 July 2017
Daniel Nazer, a staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said facts and story concepts generally can’t be copyrighted.

— daniel victor, New York Times, "51 Times That the Aggregator Distractify Says Its Copyright Was Violated," 6 July 2017
The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, alleges Skidmore, Owings & Merrill infringed on Park's copyrighted design.

— ally marotti, chicagotribune.com, "Former Chicago architecture student says firm stole One World Trade Center design," 21 June 2017
For example, the N.B.A. permitted game video on YouTube at a time when other leagues reflexively guarded their copyrighted content.

— marc tracy, New York Times, "Sure, He’s Good at Basketball, but How Are His Twitter Skills?," 6 June 2017
Because recipes can’t (for the most part) be copyrighted, LaBau’s lawsuit focuses specifically on the video that helped popularize the snow globe cupcakes.

— derek hawkins, Washington Post, "Cupcake wars: Blogger sues Food Network over snow globe recipe video," 5 June 2017
Manhattanhenge, a term coined (and copyrighted) by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, is a wondrous natural phenomena that many New Yorkers look forward to in the summer.

— andrea romano, Smithsonian, "Where to Go if You Want to See Manhattanhenge in 2017," 25 May 2017

First Known Use of copyright

circa 1806

Other Publishing Terms

annotate, dreadful, emend, expurgate, factoid, jump, lobster shift, redaction, referee

copyright

adjective

Definition of copyright

:secured by copyright

See copyright defined for English-language learners

Examples of copyright in a Sentence

The copyright date is 2005.

Recent Examples of copyright from the Web

Previously, Google had only removed webpages with identifying financial information, such as credit card numbers, and with content that violates copyright laws.

— bloomberg news, NOLA.com, "Google to remove private medical records from search results," 24 June 2017
With Ivan Pereira and Alison Fox ——— ©2017 Newsday _____ Copyright 2017 Tribune Content Agency.

— rachelle blidner and laura figueroa, Jewish Journal, "NATIONAL: Celebrate Israel parade steps off in Manhattan on Sunday," 5 June 2017

First Known Use of copyright

1870

Other Publishing Terms

annotate, dreadful, emend, expurgate, factoid, jump, lobster shift, redaction, referee

COPYRIGHT Defined for English Language Learners

copyright

play

noun

Definition of copyright for English Language Learners

: the legal right to be the only one to reproduce, publish, and sell a book, musical recording, etc., for a certain period of time

copyright

verb

Definition of copyright for English Language Learners

: to get a copyright for a book, musical recording, etc., for a certain period of time

copyright

adjective

Definition of copyright for English Language Learners

: of or relating to a copyright
: not allowed to be copied without permission from the author, composer, etc.

COPYRIGHT Defined for Kids

copyright

play

noun copy·right \ ˈkä-pē-ˌrīt \

Definition of copyright for Students

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

copyright

verb

Definition of copyright for Students

copyrighted; copyrighting

:to get a copyright on

Law Dictionary

copyright

play

noun copy·right \ ˈkä-pē-ˌrīt \

legal Definition of copyright

: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 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

transitive verb

legal Definition of copyright

:to secure a copyright on

—

copyrightability

\ˌkä-pē-ˌrī-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun

—

copyrightable

play \ˈkä-pē-ˌrī-tə-bəl\ adjective

Learn More about copyright

See words that rhyme with copyright Spanish Central: Translation of copyright Nglish: Translation of copyright for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of copyright for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about copyright

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copyright

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copyrightable

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copyright

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COPYRIGHT Defined for English Language Learners

copyright

Definition of copyright for English Language Learners

copyright

Definition of copyright for English Language Learners

copyright

Definition of copyright for English Language Learners

COPYRIGHT Defined for Kids

copyright

Definition of copyright for Students

copyright

Definition of copyright for Students

Law Dictionary

copyright

legal Definition of copyright

copyright

copyright

legal Definition of copyright

copyrightability

copyrightable

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