Rights Belonging to the Copyright Owner

The Copyright Act of 1976 grants a number of exclusive rights to copyright owners, including the:

• reproduction right -- the right to make copies of a protected work
• distribution right -- the right to sell or otherwise distribute copies to the public
• right to create adaptations -- the right to prepare new works based on the protected work (called derivative works), and
• performance and display rights -- the rights to perform a protected work (such as a stageplay) or to display a work in public.

This bundle of rights allows a copyright owner to be flexible when deciding how to realize commercial gain from the underlying work; the owner may sell or license any of the rights.

Transfer of Copyright Owner's Rights

When a copyright owner wishes to commercially exploit the work covered by the copyright, the owner typically transfers one or more of these rights to the person or entity who will be responsible for getting the work to market, such as a book or software publisher.

When transferring copyright, it is common for a copyright owner to place some limitations on the rights being transferred. For example, the owner may limit the transfer to a specific period of time, allow the right to be exercised only in a specific part of the country or world, or require that the right be exercised only through certain media, such as hardcover books, audiotapes, magazines, or computers. When only some of the rights associated with the copyright are transferred, it is known as a "license."

An exclusive license exists when the transferred rights can be exercised only by the owner of the license (the licensee), and no one else -- including the person who granted the license (the licensor). If the license allows others (including the licensor) to exercise the same rights being transferred in the license, the license is said to be nonexclusive.

The U.S. Copyright Office allows buyers of exclusive and non-exclusive copyright rights to record the transfers in the U.S. Copyright Office. This helps to protect the buyers in case the original copyright owner later tries to transfer the same rights to another party.

Transfers of copyright ownership are unique in one respect. Authors or their heirs have the right to terminate any transfer of copyright ownership 35 to 40 years after it is made.