Week 4 EOC: Copyrights

"A copyright is a legal device that gives the creator of a literary, artistic, musical, or other creative work the sole right to publish and sell that work. Copyright owners have the right to control the reproduction of their work, including the right to receive payment for that reproduction. An author may grant or sell those rights to others, including publishers or recording companies. Violation of a copyright is called infringement."
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Copyright

"Copyright does not protect the mechanical or utilitarian aspects of such works of craftsmanship. Copyright may, however, protect any pictorial, graphic, or sculptural authorship that can be identified separately from the utilitarian aspects of an object. Thus a useful article can have both copyrightable and uncopyrightable features. For example, a carving on the back of a chair or a floral relief design on silver flatware can be protected by copyright, but the design of the chair or the flatware itself cannot, even though it may be aesthetically pleasing."
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl103.html

"Copyright laws protect the rights of people who create movies, TV shows, artwork and other products by providing the creator with exclusive rights to sell, license or otherwise use his or her creative work. In the case of movies and television, these laws help safeguard the creative works that support the livelihoods of the 2.4 million Americans who work as set painters, costume designers, make-up artists, writers, actors, directors and more. The MPAA works with governments around the world to pursue commonsense solutions that advance innovative consumer choices, while protecting the rights of all who make something of value with their minds, their passion and their unique creative vision."
http://www.mpaa.org/contentprotection/copyright-info

"Copyright is the area of law that deals with creation, ownership, sale, and use of creative and expressive works."
https://www.lib.umn.edu/copyright/basics

I personally believe that its a great thing to have copyright laws. People work so hard to achieve their work and would be so afraid to share it with the world if people could just steal it and use it for their own personal gain.