Tuesday, October 25, 2011:  Today, the U.S. Copyright Office released Priorities and Special Projects of the United States Copyright Office October 2011 - October 2013.  (http://www.copyright.gov/docs/priorities.pdf)

From the executive summary:
This paper summarizes the priorities of the United States Copyright Office over the next two years with respect to copyright policy and administrative practice, and announces a series of new projects designed to improve the quality and efficiency of its services in the twenty-first century...

One of the Office’s core responsibilities is providing leadership and impartial expertise on questions of copyright law and policy. Copyright law is the engine of free expression and a major building block in the world economy. It plays a critical role in promoting and disseminating American works of authorship and in sustaining large and small businesses in the information, entertainment, and technology sectors. As copyright issues have become more ubiquitous, the Office has had to find innovative ways to assist users of copyrighted works and to provide education about core copyright principles.

Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work. These rights include:

• reproduce the work
• prepare other works based upon the work ("derivative works")
• distribute copies of the work by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by lease
• perform the work publicly
• display the copyrighted work publicly

Under United States law, seven types of works can be copyrighted:

• literary works
• musical works
• dramatic works
• pantomimes and choreographic works
• pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, including fabric designs
• motion pictures and other audiovisual works
• sound recordings

A "work" cannot be just an idea to qualify for copyright protection. It has to be original and be the result of at least some creativity. It must also be realized in a "fixed form."

The exclusive rights are however balanced for public interest purposes with limitations and exceptions to the exclusive right - such as fair dealing and fair use. Copyright theory says that it is the balance between the exclusive rights and the limitations and exceptions that engenders creativity. Copyright does not protect ideas, only their expression or fixation. In most jurisdictions copyright arises upon fixation and does not need to be registered. Copyright owners have the exclusive statutory right to exercise control over copying and other exploitation of the works for a specific period of time, after which the work is said to enter the public domain. Uses which are covered under limitations and exceptions to copyright, such as fair use, do not require permission from the copyright owner. All other uses require permission and copyright owners can license or permanently transfer or assign their exclusive rights to others.

Initially copyright law only applied to the copying of books. Over time other uses such as translations and derivative works were made subject to copyright and copyright now covers a wide range of works, including maps, dramatic works, paintings, photographs, sound recordings, motion pictures and computer programs. The British Statute of Anne 1709, full title "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or purchasers of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned", was the first copyright statute.

Today copyright laws have been standardized to some extent through international and regional agreements such as the Berne Convention and the European copyright directives. Although there are consistencies among nations' copyright laws, each jurisdiction has separate and distinct laws and regulations about copyright. National copyright laws on licensing, transfer and assignment of copyright still vary greatly between countries and copyrighted works are licensed on territorial basis. Some jurisdictions also recognize moral rights of creators, such as the right to be credited for the work.

Source: Wikipedia