Whatiscopyright?Copyrightisaprotectionthatcoverspublishedandunpublishedliterary,scientificandartisticworks,whatevertheformofexpression,providedsuchworksarefixedinatangibleormaterialform.Thismeansthatifyoucanseeit,hearitand/ortouchit-itmaybeprotected.Ifitisanessay,ifitisaplay,ifitisasong,ifitisafunkyoriginaldancemove,ifitisaphotograph,HTMLcodingoracomputergraphicthatcanbesetonpaper,recordedontapeorsavedtoaharddrive,itmaybeprotected.Copyrightlawsgrantthecreatortheexclusiverighttoreproduce,preparederivativeworks,distribute,performanddisplaytheworkpublicly.Exclusivemeansonlythecreatorofsuchwork,notanybodywhohasaccesstoitanddecidestograbit.截取了几段,你可以上这网站上看看

　　Copyrightprotectionbeginswhenanyoftheabovedescribedworkisactuallycreatedandfixedinatangibleform.Forexample,let'ssaythatsomeonedabblesinmusicandlivesintheUnitedStates.Whenhe/shewritesnewlyrics,he/sheprintsthemoutonpaper,signshis/hernameatthebottomwiththeCopyrightsymboltoshowthathe/sheistheauthor.Copyrightbeginsatthemomentthelyricsareprintedoutonpaper,orfixedinatangibleform.Furtherproofcanbecreatedbyputtingthelyricsinanenvelopeandmailingitasthepostmarkcanestablishthedateofcreation.ItisthenadvisabletoregisterthecopyrightwiththeU.S.CopyrightOfficeasneededinordertobeabletosueformonetarydamagesshouldaviolationofcopyrightoccur.However,ifsomebodyelsecopiesandredistributesthoselyricswithoutpermissionbeforethecopyrightisregistered,thetrueauthorwouldstillbeabletoassertacopyrightclaimifnecessary.

　　Theaboveappliestodigitalartandgraphics.Openagif,jpgorpngfilethatyoucreatedandlookattheproperties.Itstatesthedatethatyousavedittoyourharddriveasthedateofcreation.Forbetterprotection,backupeverythingonacdordiskandputitinasafeplace.

　　Somebodyonceaskedifitwas"illegal"toplacethecopyrightsymbolnexttoyournameifyouhavenotregisteredyourcopyright.Unlessyouarenotthetrueauthorofthework,itisnotillegaltoplacethecopyrightsymbolnexttoyourname-itisyourrighttodoso.Theproperwaytoplaceacopyrightnoticeisasfollows:Copyright(firstdateofcreation)(nameofowner).Likethis:Copyright2010JohnSmith.