After a fixed amount of time, the copyright expires on intellectual work and it enters the public domain, where it can be used without limit.

" Since the playwright's wishes were not protected by copyright, Ibsen decided to avoid the danger of being re-written by a lesser dramatist by committing what he called a " barbaric outrage " on his play himself and giving it an alternative ending in which Nora did not leave.

As soon as a work is " fixed ", that is, written or recorded on some physical medium, its author is automatically entitled to all copyrights in the work, and to any derivative works unless and until the author explicitly disclaims them, or until the copyright expires.

The United States and most Latin American countries instead entered into the Buenos Aires Convention in 1910, which required a copyright notice ( such as all rights reserved ) on the work, and permitted signatory nations to limit the duration of copyrights to shorter and renewable terms.

For example, the copyright to a Mickey Mouse cartoon restricts others from making copies of the cartoon or creating derivative works based on Disney's particular anthropomorphic mouse, but does not prohibit the creation of other works about anthropomorphic mice in general, so long as they are different enough to not be judged copies of Disney's.

Copyright law recognises the right of an author based on whether the work actually is an original creation, rather than based on whether it is unique ; two authors may own copyright on two substantially identical works, if it is determined that the duplication was coincidental, and neither was copied from the other.

But if the intended exploitation of the work includes publication ( or distribution of derivative work, such as a film based on a book protected by copyright ) outside the U. S., the terms of copyright around the world must be considered.

* WhyNotAskMe. org: Organization demanding democratic participation in copyright legislation and a moratorium on secret and fast-tracked copyright negotiations

The controversy over software patents is about specific algorithms or techniques that the software contains, which may not be duplicated by others and considered intellectual property and copyright infringement depending on the severity.

Due to copyright reasons only viewers residing in the UK could see them on the ITV site.

In copyright law, European directive 2004 / 48 / EC on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights bases damages on, " the amount of royalties which would have been due if the infringer has requested authorisation ".

Arguments made by legal experts stated influence on art style is not copyright infringement. Glass warfare from the website of the St. Petersburg TimesThe Seattle Times: Local News: Glass artist Chihuly's lawsuit tests limits of copyrighting art, a 2005 article from The Seattle Times ; Chihuly settled the lawsuit independently with Rubino initially, and later Kaindl as well. Chihuly, rival glass artist settle dispute a 2006 article from The Seattle Times

However, a French court ruled, in June 1990, that a special lighting display on the tower in 1989, for the tower's 100th anniversary, was an " original visual creation " protected by copyright.

Thus, SETE could not claim copyright on photographs or panoramas of Paris incorporating the lit tower.

* There is no copyright on the songs.

The mainstream press coverage has been primarily concerned with Freenet's impact on copyright enforcement, rather than Freenet's asserted goal of freedom of communication.

In March 2004, Grey Ghost Press acquired the copyright of Fudge, and on April 6, 2005, they released a version of Fudge under the Open Game License.

Since it was a work created by the US federal government, a copyright cannot be placed on the source code, making the source code in the public domain.

( e. g. an undetectable performance-enhancing gene therapy was used by one of the characters on himself, but to avoid copyright infringement, this gene therapy was modified from the tested-to-be-harmless original, which produced a fatal cardiovascular defect )

Typically, a work must meet minimal standards of originality in order to qualify for copyright, and the copyright expires after a set period of time ( some jurisdictions may allow this to be extended ).

In those Berne Convention countries who have implemented only the minimum copyright period, copyright expires 50 years after the author's death.

Until it expires, the copyright belongs to the Spanish Ministry of Culture, and collecting societies charge copyright fees, which has led to criticism.

Thus the Lords rejected the notice of a perpetual copyright and held that it had not previously existed before the Statute of Anne and older works fall into the public domain and are available to everyone when the copyright term expires.

Under Argentine copyright law, copyright expires 70 years after the death of the creator of a work.

* This article uses text translated from the Dictionnaire Bouillet — a French work which is in the public domain because copyright has expired in the United States, France and other countries where the copyright expires 100 years or more after the author's death.

When a copyright expires, the work become part of the public domain.

When a work is finished ( defined as being written or recorded on a physical medium ), the author automatically receives all exclusive rights for that work as well as derivatives, unless and until the author explicitly renounces those rights or the copyright expires.

According to a resolution of 1831, the copyright on topographic maps produced by the Generalkvartermesterstaben or the Generalstabens Topografiske Afdeling never expires.

In copyright law, there is a necessity for little flexibility as to what constitutes authorship.

The United States Copyright Office defines copyright as " a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States ( title 17, U. S. Code ) to authors of " original works of authorship ".

Holding the title of " author " over any " literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, certain other intellectual works " give rights to this person, the owner of the copyright, exclusive right to do or authorize any production or distribution of their work.

Any person or entity wishing to use intellectual property held under copyright must receive permission from the copyright holder to use this work, and often will be asked to pay for the use of copyrighted material.

Copyright law has been amended time and time again since the inception of the law to extend the length of this fixed period where the work is exclusively controlled by the copyright holder.

However, copyright is merely the legal reassurance that one owns his / her work.

An interesting aspect of authorship emerges with copyright in that it can be passed down to another upon one's death.

The person who inherits the copyright is not the author, but enjoys the same legal benefits.

Questions arise as to the application of copyright law.

* 1920 – Peru becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

The property was wholly disencumbered in 1847 by Robert Cadell, the publisher, who cancelled the bond upon it in exchange for the family's share in the copyright of Sir Walter's works.

The terms of the Artistic License 1. 0 were at issue in a 2007 federal district court decision in the US which was criticized by some for suggesting that FOSS-like licenses could only be enforced through contract law rather than through copyright law, in contexts where contract damages would be difficult to establish.

* 1950 – Argentina becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

* 1667 – The blind and impoverished John Milton sells the copyright of Paradise Lost for £ 10.

* 1914 – Honduras becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

Arrangers in pop music recordings often add parts for orchestral or band instruments involving new material such that the arrangers may reasonably be considered co-composers, although for copyright and royalty purposes usually are not.

* 1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, enters into force in Great Britain.

While the creator of the NES version would be restricted from making a competitive version of an NES game, the original arcade copyright holder was not precluded from licensing out rights for a home version of an arcade game to multiple systems.

ACM requires the copyright of all submissions to be assigned to the organization as a condition of publishing the work.