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
Most allege multiple causes of action, from direct copyright infringement to contributory infringement, inducement and vicarious infringement. Paul Sweeting, Variety, 17 Apr. 2024 The Copyright Office, which both administers the copyright registration system and advises Congress, the judiciary system, and other governmental agencies on copyright matters, plays a central role in determining how works that use AI are treated. Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 17 Apr. 2024 The public began to notice in 2022, when Winnie the Pooh was freed for use as the 95-year copyright period elapsed on the novel that introduced him. Andrew Dalton, Quartz, 16 Apr. 2024 In the past, biases and copyright infringements have rocked trust in AI. Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 15 Apr. 2024 The case was partially dismissed in February, per Reuters, with Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín rejecting claims of copyright infringement and that the businesses unjustly enriched themselves through other people’s work. Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune Europe, 15 Apr. 2024 The study was published in 2019 and the university sought no copyrights or patents from the research. Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press, 15 Apr. 2024 The group calls on Japan’s government to take action, including the passage of laws that protect elections and national security and stronger copyright laws. Chris Morris, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2024 OpenAI and Google reportedly used YouTube videos to help train their AI models, potentially violating the creators’ copyrights of those videos. Emily Price, PCMAG, 6 Apr. 2024
Verb
But the question of whether this content can be copyrighted is right now, well, at least in the U.S. and the U.K. and the EU the answer is no. Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024 There also remain sticky questions about how OpenAI handles copyrighted work in its training data. Wendy Lee, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024 The fake video of Janse led to a website copyrighted by an entity called Vigor Wellness Pulse. Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024 That brings us to a game’s color scheme, which some media companies have successfully copyrighted in the past. Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Fortune, 13 Mar. 2024 That brings us to a game's color scheme, which some media companies have successfully copyrighted in the past. Wyatte Grantham-Philips and Gaetane Lewis, Quartz, 12 Mar. 2024 Chief Critic Ian Crosby, the Times’ lead counsel, dismissed the allegations, noting OpenAI does not dispute the core complaint in the newspaper’s lawsuit—that copyrighted New York Times stories were used to build and train ChatGPT. Zachary Folk, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024 If true, that’s some major chutzpah on TikTok’s part, given that AI creations can’t be copyrighted and, depending on the AI-training material, may in themselves violate copyright. David Meyer, Fortune, 31 Jan. 2024 Artists argue that the A.I. platforms are spitting out replicas of their existing work—much of which is copyrighted—rather than using it as inspiration to create something new. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Jan. 2024
Adjective
OpenAI and Google have both transcribed YouTube videos to train their AI models, the Times found, which could violate copyright laws. Rachyl Jones, Fortune, 9 Apr. 2024 Copyright Office, which has so far opted not to give copyright protections to AIGC. Johanna Costigan, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024 The Copyright Office has declined to offer copyright protection for AI creations, though works that are formed through a combination of human and artificial efforts complicate the rule. Tom Roland, Billboard, 22 Nov. 2023 Ultimately, this could mean the person creating the deepfake video may be the copyright holder of the abusive content. Matt Burgess, WIRED, 11 Mar. 2024 These critical rights were traditionally held by copyright owners. Kristin Robinson, Billboard, 18 Mar. 2024 Nintendo is asking for $2,500 for every violation of the anti-circumvention and anti-trafficking provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, as well as $150,000 for each copyright violation. Antonio Pequeño Iv, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024 Stateside, the issue of inputs has become the subject of ongoing court cases: One notable example is The New York Times’ decision to sue OpenAI for copyright infringement on the basis that the AI company used the newspaper’s articles as training data. Johanna Costigan, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024 OpenAI, Microsoft and other companies have said that their AI training is protected by the copyright doctrine of fair use and that the lawsuits threaten the burgeoning AI industry. Reuters, NBC News, 13 Feb. 2024

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 25 Apr. 2024.

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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