What is Copyright?

The following is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. If you need legal advice, contact a lawyer.

Copyright law protects original creative works, such as images, audio files and videos. Copyright law varies by country. Copyright owners generally have the right to control certain unauthorized uses of their work (including the right to sue people who use their copyrighted work without permission). As a result, certain images and other copyrighted content may require permissions or licenses, especially if you use the work in a commercial setting. You are responsible for obtaining all of the permissions and licenses necessary to use this image (displayed above) in your specific context. However, even copyright-protected works can be lawfully used without permission from the copyright holder in certain circumstances, such as in the case of “fair usage.”

For example, in the United States, “fair use” allows you to use a copyrighted work without permission in certain circumstances (e.g., a book review that includes some of the book being reviewed). Wikipedia has useful descriptions of fair use.

If you believe that the content above infringes upon the owner’s copyright, please report it. You can do so by clicking the right mouse button and choosing “Report a problem with this page” from the pop-up menu. You can then provide us with the details regarding the infringement.

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