.. SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0 Copyright 2026 The Linux Foundation Basics: Copyright ================= Understand the basic purpose and effect of copyrights. .. contents:: :local: :backlinks: none :depth: 1 Key takeaways ------------- * Most software is copyrighted, typically by the person who wrote it or their employer. * Modern laws grant copyrights to authors automatically, regardless of registration or notice requirements. * Copyrights generally exist whether or not the author wants them to exist! * Just because something says that it is "in the public domain" doesn't mean that it actually is. Overview -------- Copyrights are legal property rights, established by countries' laws, applicable to various kinds of creative works. A copyright owner generally gets to have the *exclusive* right to control certain aspects of how their work gets copied, distributed, modified, displayed, and performed. Details ------- Exclusive Rights ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The owner of a copyright is granted a variety of *exclusive* rights to their work under applicable copyright laws. In the United States, under `17 U.S.C. § 106 `__, these include the exclusive right to: * **reproduce**, or copy, the work; * **prepare derivative works** based upon the work; * **distribute** copies of the work; and * **publicly display** and **publicly perform** the work. For software, "reproducing" the work is generally understood to include control over the right to **execute** it, since execution of the software will necessarily involve making copies of it. "Preparing derivative works" of software is generally understood to include making modifications. Types of Copyrightable Works ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ In the United States, under `17 U.S.C. § 102(a) `__, copyright protection applies to: "...original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device." § 102 describes several categories of works that are copyrightable, including literary, musical, pictorial / graphic, and audiovisual works, among others. Software is generally considered to be a "literary work" under US copyright law. Under `17 U.S.C. § 103 `__, copyright can also exist in *compilations and collective works*, and in *derivative works* that are based upon one or more pre-existing works. In some cases, *"structure, sequence and organization"* of software can be copyrightable as well. Copyright applies to a particular *expression* of an idea. Copyright **does not** apply to the underlying *idea* itself. Many different people can possess their own copyrights in their particular expression of the same idea. In the United States, for all of the above, copyright requires that the underlying work include at least a minimal amount of creativity. Purely mechanically-generated data will generally not be copyrightable in the United States, if no element of creativity is involved in the creation and selection of that data. Some countries may have copyright-like property rights applicable to data, such as `"sui generis" database rights in the European Union `__. Owner of Copyrights ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ In the United States, when a person develops software (or any copyrightable work) wholly on their own accord, such as for a personal hobby, that person will typically be the "copyright holder" -- meaning that they own the copyrights in their work. See `17 U.S.C. § 201(a) `__. However, when a person develops software or other works as an employee within the scope of their employment, their employer will typically own the copyrights in that work as a "work made for hire." See `17 U.S.C. § 201(b) `__. Copyright may also be transferred, or "assigned," from the original owner to a third party pursuant to a contract or similar writing. As with many aspects of copyright law, the above details may vary from country to country according to their own laws. Because of this, the specifics of who owns the copyright in a particular work may not be obvious, and may require a fact-specific investigation if you want to determine who the specific owner is at any point in time. Automatic vesting ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ In the United States, as with most other countries, copyright automatically vests in its owner immediately upon creation of the work. There is generally no requirement to undertake actions like applying with the Copyright Office for registration, or to apply a copyright notice to your work, in order to own the copyright in the work. Modern US copyright law automatically vests ownership of copyrights in their authors without formal actions being required. This automatic vesting of exclusive rights in the authors of copyrighted works, including software, is what makes open source licenses necessary. Public Domain ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ If a work is not subject to copyright protection, then it is considered to be in the "public domain." The phrase "public domain" is sometimes overloaded, and sometimes used also to refer to information that is publicly known and disclosed. Just because something is publicly known without confidentiality protection, does not mean that it is in the "public domain" for purposes of copyright. Note that whether something is in the public domain is determined by applicable law, and may vary from country to country. For example, in the United States, copyright protection may not apply to a work for a variety of reasons, such as: * it lacked sufficient creativity to be subject to copyright; * it was created by a US federal government employee in the course of their employment (see `17 U.S.C. § 105(a) `__); or * its term of copyright protection has expired (unlikely to be the case for software, as copyright terms persist for many decades!) Software that is labeled (even by its author) as being in the "public domain" may not in fact be free of copyright restrictions, in the United States or other countries. However, many open source projects may nonetheless decide to use code and dependencies that are described by their authors as being in the public domain. This typically involves the project deciding (consciously or otherwise) that it is unlikely that an author of software would attempt to exercise their copyrights, after they have published it with a notice stating their intent for it to be "in the public domain." Resources --------- * The United States copyright laws are codified in Title 17 of the United States Code. The Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School makes available `an easily-browseable copy of the United States Code `__. * The United States Copyright Office has published `FAQs `__ with answers to basic questions, together with `circulars `__ containing more detailed authoritative guidance about US copyright laws. * The Linux Foundation offers a free training course on `Open Source Licensing Basics for Software Developers (LFC191) `__.