of or relating to copyrights.
Also copyrighted. protected by copyright.
A copyright is a document that gives the ownership rights over artistic work, like songs or stories. If you don't get a copyright for your brilliant new novel, someone could adapt it into a movie without paying you a dime. Copyright means exactly what it sounds like: the right to make copies of something. If you copyright a song, a singer will to have to pay you to record it. Usually, copyright only lasts for a certain number of years. In the U.S. when a book or song has had a copyright for more than 75 years, that expires and it becomes "public domain," which means nobody owns the rights to it anymore.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
AI music company Suno plans to press users’ generated tracks onto 12-inch records for about $45, moving into vinyl as copyright suits from Universal and Sony continue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Documents recently unsealed in a copyright case show employees weighing the cost of buying books to train early ChatGPT models.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
As AI advancements upend the media industry, many publishers have employed a dual strategy: striking lucrative content-licensing deals with select tech companies, while suing others for copyright infringement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
On 4 September the official Tetris account on X posted, external the firm was "not involved in the creation" of the game and it took "copyright infringement very seriously".
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
The emblem on the copyright page was nearly identical to the Bayside Press logo, but instead of a seagull there was a black bird.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
And celebrities with valuable intellectual property rights, such as copyrights from the Reiners’ many film and television properties, tend to establish trusts.
From Salon ● Dec. 25, 2025
Disney’s letter accused Google of “infringing Disney’s copyrights on a massive scale.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
The deal comes amid reports Disney lawyers sent Google a cease-and-desist letter on Wednesday accusing the tech firm of infringing its copyrights "on a massive scale".
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2025
They alleged that Cox’s subscribers infringed their copyrights in sound recordings and musical compositions by copying and distributing them via BitTorrent and other networks.
From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2025
But when Fabyan printed the pamphlets, he claimed the copyrights for himself.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
But Olly - who has dealt with these before when he has mistakenly posted copyrighted material - says they are usually easy to deal with, and "you can easily tell the difference".
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
The Times' lawsuit partly hinges on the limited "fair use" exception, which permits copyrighted work to be used without the rights holders' consent.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
The fact that AI-generated text can’t be copyrighted has made it one of the hard lines the industry has been able to enforce.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
The debate will continue in the courts, which are also looking at other copyrighted works such as news articles and movies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
It was copyrighted 1972 by the Esso company.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
On the other hand, that can also be an advantage, said a 30-year-old pilot who goes by the name Makarena and worked in copyrighting before the war.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2023
Its widespread use has been facilitated by Kruger’s disinterest in copyrighting her work.
From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2022
This idea of thin copyright, and the idea that you might be copyrighting the curation of all of these different elements together.
From The Verge ● Sep. 15, 2021
Senior manager of LHI Sonia Mora said the county is in the process of copyrighting Abuelina and her family members to ensure they are not used for commercial purposes.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 8, 2021
Letters, however, are copyrightable by themselves or as part of a book; and the writer may protect a letter against unauthorized publication by himself publishing and copyrighting it.
From Copyright: Its History and Its Law by Richard Rogers Bowker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
