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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)

copyrights, present (3rd person singular) copyrighted, past participle, past copyrighting present participle

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

Derived Forms

• copyrighter
  noun
• uncopyrighted
  adjective
• copyrightable
  adjective

Conjugated Forms

Present

• has copyrighted
  perfect 3rd person singular
• have copyrighted
  perfect
• am copyrighting
  progressive 1st person singular
• is copyrighting
  progressive 3rd person singular
• are copyrighting
  progressive
• has been copyrighting
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• copyrights
  singular 3rd person
• have been copyrighting
  perfect progressive
• copyrighting
  participle

Past

• had copyrighted
  perfect
• were copyrighting
  progressive plural
• was copyrighting
  progressive singular
• copyrighted
  participle
• copyrighted
  simple
• had been copyrighting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will copyright
  simple
• will have copyrighted
  perfect
• will have been copyrighting
  perfect progressive
• will be copyrighting
  progressive

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

UMG and WMG sued AI companies Udio and Suno in 2024, accusing them of copyright infringement.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026

Media companies have argued that this amounts to copyright theft that draws readers away from their platforms, posing a serious threat to their businesses.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 2, 2026

There was no corporate copyright message at the end of the hour; instead, an independent, Chicago-based studio was listed as the production company.

From Salon • May 27, 2026

According to the lawsuit, the image was taken during the singer's 2024 Austin City Limits Festival performance and Lipa owns the copyright to the photograph.

From BBC • May 10, 2026

She picked up The Gold-Bug from the top of her stack of books, the word belief echoing in her head as she flipped to the copyright page.

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

Related Words

• cartel
• holding
• ownership
• patent
• trust