copyright
noun
copy·right
| \ ˈkä-pē-ˌrīt
\
\
Definition of copyright
(Entry 1 of 3)
: the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something (such as a literary, musical, or artistic work)
His family still holds the copyright to his songs.
copyright
verb
copyrighted;
copyrighting;
copyrights
Definition of copyright (Entry 2 of 3)
: to secure a copyright on
He has copyrighted all of his plays.
copyright
adjectiveDefinition of copyright (Entry 3 of 3)
: secured by copyright
copyright songs
Keep scrolling for more
Other Words from copyright
Verb
copyrightable
\ ˈkä-pē-ˌrī-tə-bəl
\
adjective
\
adjective
Examples of copyright in a Sentence
Noun
His family still holds the copyright to his songs. The book is under copyright.Verb
He has copyrighted all of his plays.Adjective
The copyright date is 2005.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Judge Robert Katzmann issued a ruling Sept. 4 that agreed with the lower court decision that the words' use did not constitute copyright infringement. — Claudia Rosenbaum, Billboard, "'Party and Bulls--t': NY Judge Rules Phrase Is Fair Use in Notorious B.I.G., Rita Ora Songs," 5 Sep. 2019 The San Antonio attorney subsequently saw Ortiz at a fundraiser for the Texas Civil Rights Project and quickly realized that Ortiz hadn’t developed a strategy for protecting his distinctive Tex-Mex pop art from copyright infringement. — Gilbert Garcia, ExpressNews.com, "Logo dispute sparks firestorm in San Antonio art scene," 28 Aug. 2019 All are charged with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, a crime that carried a punishment of up to five years in prison. — Rachel Weiner, Washington Post, "Programmers behind streaming services accused of piracy," 27 Aug. 2019 This isn’t the first time the company has had to deal with hoaxes related to copyright infringement and user privacy. — Patrick Lucas Austin, Time, "That Instagram Post Everyone Is Sharing Is Just Another Viral Hoax," 21 Aug. 2019 But the company is also in the process of suing the mobile security testing firm Corellium for copyright infringement, because Corellium offers a virtual iOS build that researchers can test on remotely. — Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, "You Can Jailbreak Your iPhone Again (But Maybe You Shouldn’t)," 19 Aug. 2019 In terms of commercial magnitude, six months of retaliatory tariffs are small beer compared with 30 years of currency manipulation, forced technological appropriation, and copyright and patent theft. — Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, "Trump — or What, Exactly?," 27 Aug. 2019 Music rights are infamously complicated, but owning the master recordings — the original copies of an artist’s work — and the associated copyright is not everything. — Joe Coscarelli, New York Times, "Taylor Swift Says She Will Rerecord Her Old Music. Here’s How.," 22 Aug. 2019 An outpouring of responses on social media ensued—and the image was later removed from Twitter due to a copyright complaint from the photographer who took the Skittles photo—but not to be daunted, Don’s original tweet remains. — Julianne Pepitone, Town & Country, "Everything You Need to Know About Donald Trump Jr.," 8 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Also featured will be renowned origami expert and mathematics professor Toshikazu Kawasaki, whose copyrighted one minute rose origami design is featured below. — oregonlive.com, "World class origami experts descend on Portland for Pacific Coast OrigamiUSA 2019 Conference," 12 Aug. 2019 Joseph Buckley, president of John E. Reid & Associates Inc. in Chicago, the company that copyrighted the Reid technique in the early 1960s, adds that Kassin's studies lack validity because they were not conducted using professional interrogators. — Douglas Starr, Science | AAAS, "This psychologist explains why people confess to crimes they didn’t commit," 13 June 2019 Government studies are not copyrighted and can be published by anyone. — Hillel Italie, The Seattle Times, "Publishers plan bound editions of Mueller report," 30 Mar. 2019 And for those who love the idea of building their own, just know these designs are copyrighted, although Pauly is looking for apprentices to pass on the legacy. — Ann Lien, House Beautiful, "You Could Own Your Own Fairy Tale Cottage," 17 Apr. 2019 The biggest question is whether a dance move can be copyrighted at all — a legal matter that has never been fully answered. — Nick Statt, The Verge, "Fortnite keeps stealing dances — and no one knows if it’s illegal," 20 Dec. 2018 Those were actual incidents—historical facts can’t be copyrighted. — Michael Mccann, SI.com, "Why the Law Appears to Favor Alabama in Budding Barbershop Battle With LeBron," 5 Apr. 2018 Specifically, nine set-top box distributors were referred to the FCC in October for enabling the unlawful streaming of copyrighted material, seven of which displayed the FCC logo, although there was no record of such compliance. — Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, "FCC Republican asks Amazon and eBay to boost crackdown on pirate TV boxes," 29 May 2018 Not accepting children's plays, musicals, adaptations of copyrighted material, or translation. — Mark Rapp, cleveland.com, "Cleveland theater's auditions for April 27 and Beyond: Ohio Shakespere Festival's 2018-19 Season & More," 27 Apr. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Use of those mods constitutes copyright infringement and breach of the game's EULA, Epic argues, echoing lawsuits filed against Fortnite cheaters filed last year. — Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, "Fortnite, GTA V hackers face legal action for online cheating," 17 Oct. 2018 That court upheld a lower court's previous ruling, which said, basically, that animals can't file copyright infringement suits. — Susannah Cullinane, CNN, "Monkey does not own selfie copyright, appeals court rules," 24 Apr. 2018 If restricting resale of Frozen download codes is copyright misuse, that doesn't just mean that Redbox can re-sell download codes. — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, "How a fight over Star Wars download codes could reshape copyright law," 23 Feb. 2018 Energy Intelligence Group alleges that forwarding copies of its publications violates copyright laws. — L.m. Sixel, Houston Chronicle, "Houston jury awards energy publisher $585,000 for copyright violations," 8 Dec. 2017 Previously, Google had only removed webpages with identifying financial information, such as credit card numbers, and with content that violates copyright laws. — Bloomberg News, NOLA.com, "Google to remove private medical records from search results," 24 June 2017 With Ivan Pereira and Alison Fox ——— ©2017 Newsday _____ Copyright 2017 Tribune Content Agency. — Rachelle Blidner And Laura Figueroa, Jewish Journal, "NATIONAL: Celebrate Israel parade steps off in Manhattan on Sunday," 5 June 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'copyright.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for copyright
copyright
noun
English Language Learners Definition of copyright
(Entry 1 of 3)
: the legal right to be the only one to reproduce, publish, and sell a book, musical recording, etc., for a certain period of time
copyright
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of copyright (Entry 2 of 3)
: to get a copyright for a book, musical recording, etc., for a certain period of time
copyright
adjectiveEnglish Language Learners Definition of copyright (Entry 3 of 3)
: of or relating to a copyright
: not allowed to be copied without permission from the author, composer, etc.
See the full definition for copyright in the English Language Learners Dictionary
copyright
noun
copy·right
| \ ˈkä-pē-ˌrīt
\
\
Kids Definition of copyright
(Entry 1 of 2)