Copyright is the law that protects original creative works. Books, plays, movies, music, computer code, architecture, photos, sculpture, and art are all examples of creative works protected by copyright. 

The DEVELOP COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL activity will walk you through a process to develop copyrighted material for the product you created. 

The two requirements for copyright protection are originality (did you create it yourself without copying someone else?) and what is called fixation (is your creation “fixed” by writing it down on a piece of paper, making a recording of it, saving a photograph to a camera roll, or putting it into some other form that other people can see and reproduce it?). If a creative work meets these two requirements, copyright is automatically granted.  

You are probably already a copyright owner! Just like the other forms of IP, the most important thing is making your idea real in some way by writing it down, drawing a picture, or making a recording. If you’ve ever done that – for example, making artwork for a class assignment, taking photographs just for fun, or writing a story or song to entertain your friends – you are an author and owner of copyright. 

As a copyright owner, you decide who gets to use, copy, distribute, or create what are called “derivative works” – other works based on your work (for example, a TV show based on a book). Even though copyright is automatically granted once the creative work is “fixed,” you can protect your creation even more by registering it with the U.S. Copyright Office.