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Copyright and Piracy

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Introduction

Copyright is the exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise benefit from a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work. Copyright provides legal protection to people who create these types of works. If you own a copyright in a work, no one can use that work without your permission. Copyrighted works are protected for the lifetime of the author or creator and for a period of 50 years after his or her death.

You may have heard the term intellectual property. Intellectual property refers to original ideas that are protected by copyright laws. In our digital age, intellectual property can range from online videos and images to video games to e-books. You cannot copy someone else’s intellectual property for sale or distribution without their permission.

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