5.2 Copyright

Did you know?

• Copyright in the United States was established in the Constitution.
• You can violate copyright even if you don't sell the copies you have made.
• Your own work is protected by copyright even if you don't give copyright notification and don't register your work with the Library of Congress.

Copyright law in the United States is designed to play two public interests against each other to promote the development of knowledge and culture.

It first protects the right of an author or creator to profit and benefit from original work, providing an incentive to do that work. Among scholars this benefit comes from receiving credit for one's work and thus building a reputation.

Then second, the law provides reasonable access to the work, so that others can build on that work and further advance knowledge. This access comes through particular limitations on copyright, including fair use, which allows the quotation of small bits of a work for purposes of criticism and scholarship.

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