Transfers The Need for Counsel Copyright on the Internet Introduction Copyright encourages the creative efforts of authors, artists, and others by securing the exclusive right to reproduce works and derive income from them. One need not even have notice on published copies.
Registration is required only if legal action is warranted.
Limits to Copyright Copyright does not give an owner the right to sell or distribute a work. For example, consider one person's drawing of another's painting. While the drawing should be protected by copyright, it could not be sold without permission of the owner of copyright in the original painting. Also, of course, the right to sell a work might be affected by laws governing matters such as obscenity or the rights of privacy or publicity of any person depicted. Partial or limited reproduction of another's work may be permitted under the fair use doctrine.