When the work is created, it is deemed to be protected by copyright. Exclusive rights (in whole or in part) of a copyright owner can be transferred to another party, but it must be in writing and signed by the copyright owner to be regarded legal. For example, a photographer could license their images for use on websites. It is not possible to transfer copyright before it exists. If you want to protect an idea or concept before you write anything down, a patent application must be filed. Patents are discussed further in a later section of this guide. Copyright protects the expression of an idea rather than the idea itself. So if you wanted to protect a simple phrase such as "My name is Joe," copyright would not cover this word sequence because it is not an original way of expressing yourself. However, if you wrote a poem about your experience meeting someone new named Joe who was interested in photography, this would be eligible for copyright protection because it is an original work that uses words to express an idea. Copyright cannot be transferred by implication or default. This means that although everyone has the right to copy their own photographs, if you give someone permission to copy photos from your camera they must do so properly or they may be violating your copyright.