What is copyright?

Copyright is an inherent law for all creatives who develop and produce a piece of creative works. Whether that be an art piece, sculpture, piece of music, play, novel, poem, dance, etc. The copyright act was first introduced in England in 1709 under the title “Statute of Anne”. It’s intent then was to curb the ruthless actions of many printers in reproducing authors works without payment or accreditation to said author. Today, the copyright act is an inherent law that is placed on all works on publication. That means that the work is assigned the value of the property of the creator the moment the creator airs it in public for the first time (or publishes it) There are no requirements to place a copyright symbol on the works nor to register it in any office. In America especially they try to encourage you to register a work with the Library of Congress.

The copyright law had a big change in 1998 with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). To some it has become a hindrance to the creatives who it is suppose to protect.