copyright
noun /ˈkɒpiraɪt/
/ˈkɑːpiraɪt/
[uncountable, countable]- if a person or an organization holds the copyright on a piece of writing, music, etc., they are the only people who have the legal right to publish, broadcast, perform it, etc., and other people must ask their permission to use it or any part of it
- Copyright expires seventy years after the death of the author.
- They were sued for breach/infringement of copyright.
- copyright in/on something Who owns the copyright on this song?
- out of copyright His work is now out of copyright.
- in copyright The songs remain in copyright.
Extra ExamplesTopics Law and justicec1- Copyright protects your work from being commercially exploited by someone else without your consent.
- Databases are generally protected by copyright.
- Ownership of copyright can be transferred.
- The family still holds the copyright on his works.
- The publisher has the copyright on all his books.
- They sued her for breach of copyright.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + copyright- have
- hold
- own
- …
- protect something
- expire
- lapse
- …
- infringement
- violation
- law
- …
- in copyright
- out of copyright
- copyright on
- …
- breach of copyright
- infringement of copyright
- ownership of copyright
- …