as in patents
the legal right to be the only one to reproduce, publish, and sell a book, musical recording, etc., for a certain period of time
His family still holds the copyright to his songs. laws that protect copyrights
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Recent Examples of copyrights
The plaintiff, Shaun Gray, is now facing potential liability for allegedly defrauding the studio and infringing on its copyrights.
—
Gene Maddaus, Variety, 9 Jan. 2026
And celebrities with valuable intellectual property rights, such as copyrights from the Reiners’ many film and television properties, tend to establish trusts.
—Naomi Cahn, The Conversation, 22 Dec. 2025
He’s currently embroiled in a lawsuit against former business associate Armen Boladian and his assorted music companies to regain ownership of his music and copyrights.
—Gary Graff, Billboard, 17 Dec. 2025
Media and entertainment firms spanning film, music, and news have struggled to balance embracing new technologies with protecting their copyrights.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 15 Dec. 2025
The coalition argues Cox was sent numerous notices of specific IP addresses repeatedly violating music copyrights and that Cox's failure to terminate those IP addresses from internet access means that Cox should face the music.
—Alyssa Kapasi, NPR, 1 Dec. 2025
The emergency request comes after a federal appeals court ruled in September that Shira Perlmutter, the register of copyrights, could not be dismissed unilaterally because her position is part of the Library of Congress.
—Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
The entertainment industry has expressed rising concerns over harmful AI use infringing on artist copyrights during the AI boom.
—Jaures Yip, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2025
Studios are collectively calling out OpenAI over Sora 2 for generating characters that infringe on their copyrights.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2025
Gene Maddaus, Variety, 9 Jan. 2026
And celebrities with valuable intellectual property rights, such as copyrights from the Reiners’ many film and television properties, tend to establish trusts.
—Naomi Cahn, The Conversation, 22 Dec. 2025
He’s currently embroiled in a lawsuit against former business associate Armen Boladian and his assorted music companies to regain ownership of his music and copyrights.
—Gary Graff, Billboard, 17 Dec. 2025
Media and entertainment firms spanning film, music, and news have struggled to balance embracing new technologies with protecting their copyrights.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 15 Dec. 2025
The coalition argues Cox was sent numerous notices of specific IP addresses repeatedly violating music copyrights and that Cox's failure to terminate those IP addresses from internet access means that Cox should face the music.
—Alyssa Kapasi, NPR, 1 Dec. 2025
The emergency request comes after a federal appeals court ruled in September that Shira Perlmutter, the register of copyrights, could not be dismissed unilaterally because her position is part of the Library of Congress.
—Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
The entertainment industry has expressed rising concerns over harmful AI use infringing on artist copyrights during the AI boom.
—Jaures Yip, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2025
Studios are collectively calling out OpenAI over Sora 2 for generating characters that infringe on their copyrights.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for copyrights
patents
Noun
-
Viture further claims similar patents have have been rejected in China, and that Xreal’s patent adds only minor, appearance-level changes rather than true optical innovation.—
Charlie Fink,
Forbes.com,
20 Jan. 2026
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After all, patents do temporarily block rival companies from introducing copycat products to compete against the earlier inventor and patent holder.—
David J. Kappos,
Fortune,
8 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Copyrights.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/copyrights. Accessed 27 Jan. 2026.
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