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Copyrights and Related Rights

This legal term describes rights given to creators for their literary and artistic works. Basic copyright rights are granted to creators of music, films, novels, and poems. Related rights are granted to performing artists, producers of sound recordings and broadcasting organizations for their radio and television programs.

Copyright protects the right to reproduce the work, to make copies, and to perform or display the work publicly. Be aware that copyright protection extends only to the original work preventing its copying. Copyright protects expression only, not the ideas, schemes, systems, artistic style, or “method or principle of manufacture or construction.”

Related Rights

Traditionally copyright protection is extended to writers and artists, and non-traditionally the right has been extended to artists, performers, record producers, and broadcasters who have been accorded rights akin to copyright. These non-traditional rights are often extended to protect the legal interests of certain persons and legal entities who contribute to making works available to the public.

Related rights protect people or organizations that add substantial creative, technical or organizational skill in the process of bringing a work to the public. They’re typically granted to three categories of beneficiaries: performers, producers and broadcasters.

The following are examples of protected works:

- Literary, Dramatic, Musical, and Artistic Works
- Literary Work: Books and Other Writings
- Literary Work: Computer Programs
- Dramatic Work: Plays, Films, Choreography
- Artistic Work
- Industrial Design
- Musical Work