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| | Copyright Office Basics |
 | | Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. |
 | | A work that was created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death. |
 | | Copyright Office records in machine-readable form cataloged from January 1, 1978, to the present, including registration and renewal information and recorded documents, are now available for searching from the Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov. |
| www.copyright.gov /circs/circ1.html (6993 words) |
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