Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Copyright protects literary, artistic, dramatic, and musical works, as well as sound recordings, performers' performances, and communication signals. These categories of works encompass a wide range of content, from books, articles, posters and artwork, textbooks and manuals, figures and graphs, songs and musical scores, films and documentaries, to software, databases, and websites. 

Upon creation, a work is automatically protected by copyright for the lifetime of the work's author plus 70 years after the author has passed away. Once this duration of time lapses, the work is no longer protected by copyright and it is considered to be within the scope of the public domain. Public domain works can be used without restrictions or permission from the author or the individual or entity who was the copyright owner. 

For more information, please see our Overview of Copyright page.