Copyright: An Analytical Study with its Related Issues

Abstract

Copyright is a kind of intellectual property right but, most vulnerable in nature. Generally, it is understood as legal right or license exclusively given for definite period of time to the creator or author for their intellectual work. It is the legal right provided by the laws of any country to the authors for the protection of their original works of authorship. That means it ensures certain minimum safeguards of the rights of authors over their creations. The general principle lies in it is that copyright protected works cannot be used without the authorization of the owner of rights. Mostly this law protects the expression of the idea rather than the idea itself, i.e. ideas cannot be copyrighted, but the format in which the ideas are expressed can be. According to the 1976 US copyright law, a copyrighted work is “any tangible medium of expression now known or later developed which can be perceived, reproduced or otherwise communicated, either with the aid of a machine or device”. The paper highlights the different aspects related to copyrights in national, international concern, their laws and in digital context.