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• copyright
  copyright

  noun

  the exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work, whether printed, audio, video, etc.: works granted such right by law on or after January 1, 1978, are protected for the lifetime of an author or creator and for a period of 70 years after their death.
• ©
  ©

  symbol

  copyright

copyright

American  

[kop-ee-rahyt] / ˈkɒp iˌraɪt /

noun

1. the exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work, whether printed, audio, video, etc.: works granted such right by law on or after January 1, 1978, are protected for the lifetime of an author or creator and for a period of 70 years after their death.

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adjective

1. of or relating to copyrights.

2. Also copyrighted. protected by copyright.

verb (used with object)

1. to secure a copyright on.

copyright ¹ British  

/ ˈkɒpɪˌraɪt /

noun

1.  (c).  the exclusive right to produce copies and to control an original literary, musical, or artistic work, granted by law for a specified number of years (in Britain, usually 70 years from the death of the author, composer, etc, or from the date of publication if later)

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adjective

1. (of a work, etc) subject to or controlled by copyright

verb

1. (tr) to take out a copyright on

© ² British  

symbol

1. copyright

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copyright ¹ Cultural  

1. The legal protection given to published works, forbidding anyone but the author from publishing or selling them. An author can transfer the copyright to another person or corporation, such as a publishing company.

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copyright ² Cultural  

1. A grant of an exclusive right to produce or sell a book, motion picture, work of art, musical composition, software, or similar product during a specified period of time.

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Discover More

The symbol (see also symbol) for copyright is ©.

Other Word Forms

• copyrightable
  adjective
• copyrighter
  noun
• uncopyrighted
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of copyright

First recorded in 1725–35; copy + right

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

Copyright © 2026 by the author and reprinted with permission of Princeton University Press.

From Slate • Apr. 28, 2026

Copyright Office has called for new federal legislation to protect content creators from unauthorized, AI-generated copies of their work, but no progress has been made yet.

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2026

She cited longstanding regulations of the Copyright Office requiring that “for a work to be copyrightable, it must owe its origin to a human being.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026

Copyright laws haven’t kept pace with the digital landscape.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025

Copyright traps have featured in mapmaking for centuries.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green

Related Words

• cartel
• holding
• ownership
• patent
• trust