United States Copyright Law - Exclusive Rights

Exclusive Rights

There are six basic rights protected by copyright, sometimes called the six "pillars" of copyright. The owner of copyright has the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

  • To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
  • To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
  • To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
  • To publicly perform the work, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
  • To publicly display the work, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work.
  • To digitally transmit sound recordings by means of digital audio transmission;

A violation of any of the exclusive rights of the copyright holder is said to be a copyright infringement.

Read more about this topic:  United States Copyright Law

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