A copyright offers special protection to the author of the copyrighted work with specific rights that the author can give or sell to others or keep for him/herself.

Copyright protection covers original works of authorship that involve some minimal level of creativity. The work must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression so that it can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine/device.

Generally ideas are unprotected, but those original works that is authored or created from such ideas or concepts may become subject to a copyright. Works of authorship include: (1) literary works; (2) musical works; (3) dramatic works;(4) pantomimes and choreographic works; (5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; (6) motion pictures and other audio-visual works; and (7) sound recordings etc.

A formal copyright can be obtained by filing an application with the Federal Copyright Office of the Library of Congress. Normally a copyright is highlighted by placing a copyright notice - typically a "c" inside a circle (©), with a year next to it and the name of the copyright holder on every publication of the work.

Generally copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years.

A joint work is when two or more authors join together for the production of a single work. Such work must be inseparable or interdependent, in such situations the work will be considered joint work and the authors are granted joint copyright. Unless the joint owners make a written agreement to the contrary, each copyright owner has the right to commercially exploit the copyright, provided that the other copyright owners get an equal share of the proceeds.

Several authors who are contributor to a single work are generally granted joint copyright. It all depends upon the intention of the authors who contribute to a single work, as to whether they intend their works to be part of an inseparable whole or not. In situations where the authors did not intend their work to inseparable, the result is considered a collective work. In this case, each author owns a copyright in only the material he or she added to the finished product.

The Copyright Act of 1976 grants a number of exclusive rights to copyright owners, including 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, also called derivative works, ( (the right to prepare new works based on the protected work), and performance and display rights (the rights to perform a protected work (such as a stage play)) or to display a work in public.

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 that will be responsible for getting the work to market, such as a book or software publisher. He/she may limit the transfer to a specific period of time or allow the right to be exercised only in a specific part of the country or world.

When an unconditional transfer of the owner’s copyright is made it is generally termed an “assignment”. When only some of the rights associated with the copyright are transferred, it is known as a "license."

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), it is called an exclusive right. Whereas if the license allows others (including the licensor) to exercise the same rights being transferred in the license, the license is said to be non-exclusive.

By recording the copyright transfers in the U.S. Copyright Office, it helps to protect the buyers in case the original copyright owner later tries to transfer the same rights to another party.

A "copyright" is a song writer’s exclusive right to copy his or her creative music work, with certain exceptions and for a certain period of time. A copyright basically gives the song writer a limited monopoly over their musical works. Thus, it protects the original author of a musical composition from having his work copied for a limited duration. If the song writer is also a recording artist, there are two distinct copyrights encompassing the entire musical creation; these include the composition (song) and sound recording (record).