A comprehensive guide to copyright law in the United States. Learn about copyright protection, registration, fair use, duration, and how to protect your original works.
Copyright law protects the original works of authors, artists, musicians, software developers, and other creators. These articles cover the fundamentals of copyright protection in the United States, from what qualifies for protection to how to enforce your rights.
Start here: If you're new to copyright law, begin with Understanding Copyrights, which explains the constitutional and statutory foundation of copyright protection, the exclusive rights it grants, and the limits on those rights. From there, explore Copyright Registration and Fair Use for the most practical next steps.
Can AI-generated works be copyrighted? The Copyright Office denies purely AI output protection but allows AI-assisted works with human creative control. Full 2026 guide to the case law, USCO guidance, and AI-training fair use rulings.
The first sale doctrine (17 USC § 109) lets you resell, lend, or gift copies you lawfully own — but digital files and licenses complicate the rule.
Copyright protection attaches automatically the moment an original work is fixed in a tangible form under the Copyright Act of 1976. This post explains why registration and copyright notice still matter even though neither is required for protection to exist.
In this post, I discuss how to conduct a copyright search to discover what works have taken advantage of the protections of registration.
The Copyright Act requires two copies of every published work to be deposited with the Library of Congress within three months — even if you don't register the copyright.
U.S. copyright law protects foreign works under nine specific conditions tied to the Berne Convention and treaty obligations. Registration is still recommended regardless.
How long copyright protection lasts under U.S. law — the post-1978 life-plus-70 rule, the 95/120 rule for works for hire and anonymous works, and the patchwork of pre-1978 renewal rules.
Copyright Fair Use
What is a copyright? Learn how the Copyright Act of 1976 protects original works and grants authors exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and display them.
In this post, I discuss the process and benefits of copyright registration and how it can provide greater protections to your intellectual property.
An overview of the three core forms of U.S. intellectual property protection — trademarks, copyrights, and patents — what each protects, what each does not, and how they fit together for a single product or business.
Get new writing on faith, law, and service delivered to your inbox.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.