The primary objective of copyright is to induce and reward authors, through the provision of property rights, to create new works and to make those works available to the public to enjoy. The theory is that, by granting certain exclusive rights to creators, which allow them to protect their creative works against theft, they receive the benefit of economic rewards and the public receives the benefit of the creative works that might not otherwise be created or disseminated. While copyright law is intended to serve the purpose of enriching the general public through access to creative works, it’s important to understand that it imposes no obligation upon creators to make their copyrighted works available. There are, of course, some limitations on the rights granted to copyright owners. Under certain circumstances, anyone can use a work without getting the copyright owner’s permission or paying the copyright owner to use it. There are three basic requirements that a work must meet to be protected by copyright. The work must be:
Original: To be original, a work must merely be independently created. In other words, it cannot be copied from something else. There is no requirement that the work be novel (as in patent law), unique, imaginative or inventive. Creative: To satisfy the creativity requirement a work need only demonstrate a very small amount of creativity. Very few creations fail to satisfy this requirement. Fixed: To meet the fixation requirement, a work must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Protection attaches automatically to an eligible work the moment the work is fixed. A work is considered to be fixed as long as it’s sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration.