Copyright
Copyright is a noun meaning “[t]he legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.” Thanks to The Free Dictionary by Farlex for the definition.
Copyright is another form of Intellectual Property law (blogged about here) that protects writers of books, photographers, song writers, etc., and helps them to keep control over the sale of their work. No one can copy their work without permission. Copyright used to be automatic, but these days it’s safer to write “Copyright Kris Fedorak, 2003-2006″ just to warn people who might copy your work. For a thorough but difficult to understand (very advanced English required) explanation of copyright in the U.S. see here. A very good article dealing with common misunderstandings of copyright can be found here.
I myself am not a big fan of copyright laws. I think they’re too restrictive and protect works for too long. Why must everything we create be about money, and commercial benefit? My main problem is with music. Live music (i.e. a concert) I’ll pay for. I’ll pay good money to see someone perform their music and enjoy music the way it’s supposed to be - live! Once “recorded”, the music is already just a copy - a copy of that singer’s voice, of that band’s music. Why pay for the stale and standardized sound of the music record companies? Pay for live music. However, this is just my opinion and not that of EnglishPod or On Demand Training.
To finish off, here are some common collocations to help you use this important business word:
protected by copyright
copyright law
a copyright agreement
copyright material
copyrighted material (used as a transitive verb here)
copyright infringement
