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Contract & Commercial Law vocabulary · Intellectual Property

Copyright

Meaning in contract & commercial law, with examples

/ˈkɒpiraɪt/nounCore term

In contract & commercial law, copyright means: The legal right of the creator of an original work, such as a text, photo, piece of music or software, to control how it is copied, published and adapted.

In Turkish: telif hakkı, fikri hak

How it is used

In most countries copyright arises automatically when a work is created, without registration, and usually lasts for the author's life plus 70 years. Contracts decide who owns the copyright in work made by employees or contractors.

Example sentences

  1. The agency keeps the copyright in the photos and grants us a license to use them.

  2. Copying a competitor's user manual would infringe copyright.

Common collocations

  • own the copyright
  • copyright infringement
  • copyright notice
  • assign copyright
  • protected by copyright
  • intellectual propertyLegal rights over creations of the mind, such as inventions, brands, designs, software and written works; the main types are patents, trademarks, copyright and designs.
  • licensePermission from the owner of a right, such as a patent, trademark or software, allowing someone else to use it under agreed conditions, often in return for payment.
  • infringementThe use of someone else's intellectual property, such as a patent, trademark or copyright, without permission.
  • royaltyA payment made to the owner of a right, such as a patent, brand, book or song, usually calculated as a percentage of sales or a fee per unit sold.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Intellectual Property

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not legal advice.