Copyright protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. You do not have to register a copyright for protection; however, if you want to proceed with legal action against an infringer, you would need to register.
Copyright protection is usually from the moment of creation to seventy years after the death of the creator.
The Fair Use doctrine allows for instances of copyrighted works to be used in certain circumstances. To determine if a work is subject to fair use, you would have to consider the following
– The purpose and character of the use
– The nature of the copyrighted material
– The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
– The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the work