Copyright

How come I can't take credit for this really awesome song I heard on the radio? How come I can't pretend that I drew that amazing picture I saw in an art gallery? The answer to these questions are simple, copyright. Copyright is a form of protection that makes sure that the writer/creator's work is safe from people who are trying to take credit for it, as in the writer/creator owns their work and copyright was created for these reasons especially. For example if you wrote a poem all on your own then you instantly have copyright, because you made it; it is your work.
If you have copyright of something you can almost do anything with it. You can make copies of it, distribute copies of it, perform it publicly (drama, sing, etc.), display it (art, writing, etc.), or modify it. Although, copyright does not last forever (though it does last a long time!). Copyright lasts until 70 after the writer/creator has passed. After the writer/creator has passed you can get the copyright. Even if you do gain authorization you may not use the work in an offensive way.

Some things that are not protected from copyright are:

-Ideas
-Slogans
-Methods
-Concepts
-Principles
-Discoveries
-Devices
-Systems
-Processes
-Titles
-Names
-Short Phrases

If you do take credit for something that you do not have copyright for, you are called a copyright infringer. If caught copyright infringing then you could do jail time. Being a copyright infringer is very serious. But they do have this thing called a creative commons license. It is a license that the creator/writer can give to their work allowing anyone who wants to use it can, as long as you don't use it in an offensive way. Think about copyrighting like this, how would you feel if someone took credit for your work?