Copyright

According to law, any original work of authorship, that is - works independently created with some degree of originality or creativity - are automatically protected under U.S. Copyright law. This includes, but is not limited to: 

• Literary Works
• Musical Numbers
• Choreography
• Pictures, Graphics, and Sculptural Works
• Sound or Video Recordings
• Architectural Works
• Theses, Dissertations, and other Academic Papers

Chances are that you yourself may own the copyrights to previous works you have done - a term paper, a journal article, a drawing of your cat, or even a family video you took on your last vacation. If it is something that you made yourself, that is original and creative, it is likely protected. 

Copyright law in the United States generally protects the copyright holder's sole rights to: 

• Reproduce the Work 
  Copyright protections allow for copyright holders to retain the sole rights to reproduce their work in any form. Barring the exceptions allowed under fair use, this restricts users from making unauthorized reproductions of copyrighted works. 
   
• Create Derivative Works from the Original
  Barring exceptions allowed under the law, the copyright holder has the sole right to create derivative works from the original, (i.e. to turn a photograph into a new t-shirt design, or to adapt a novel into a movie). 
   
• Distribute Copies to the Public for Profit
  Copyright law is intended to protect the commercial interests of the rights holders, meaning that copyright holders have the sole right to profit from their work under most circumstances. 
   
• Publicly Perform or Display the Work
  Again barring the exceptions allowed under fair use, copyright holders have the sole right to display the work for the public, i.e. hanging a photograph in an art gallery or showing a film at an outdoor theater. The same goes for audio recordings - the copyright holder has the sole right to publicly perform the work, (i.e. playing songs on the radio). 
   

Under U.S. Copyright law, the copyright holder has the exclusive right to perform these actions with regard to the work the holds the rights to. However, there are some exceptions - particularly for educational purposes. See - The Fair Use Exception. 

Copyright law only protects things that are both fixed in form and original works. Therefore, it does not protect thing such as: 

• Ideas, Concepts, Principles, or Discoveries
• Procedures, Methods, Processes of Doing Things
• Titles, Names, Short Phrases, or Slogans (may be covered by other protections, such as trademarks)
• Familiar Symbols or Designs
• Mere Variations on Typographic Ornament, Lettering, or Coloring
• Lists of Ingredients or Contents

Copyright law also does not apply to most works created by employees of the United States Government as part of their employment. These works are automatically put into the public domain. 

The general rule is that, for works created and published in the United States after 1978, copyright is protected for the entire life of the author(s), plus an additional 70 years. If the author is anonymous, a pseudonym, or the work is a work-for-hire, it is protected for 95 years from publication - or - 120 years from creation, whichever is shortest. 

For all other works, copyright varies based on the circumstances in which it was created. See the "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States" chart created by Cornell University to explore the copyright duration of other works. 

After the copyright of a work has expired (and if the work is not further covered by any other protections - such as trademarks), the work then passes into the public domain and may be used in any legal way without permission. Once in the public domain, no one individual has any rights to the work. 

Works produced by U.S. government employees automatically fall into the public domain if produced as part of their employment. 

A growing number of copyright holders have decided to reject their copyrights and to deliberately place their work into the public domain, usually done via a written notice accompanying the work. 

NOTE: If a work does not fall into one of these categories, or if you are unsure, you must assume it is protected by copyright and treat it accordingly.