copyright/patents


copyright

the author of a book, music, or computer software owns rights to that work.

other's cannot publish or use this work without the author's permission.


if they do, the person can sue the other party in court and recover the profit that has 

been made.


the rights can be sold to another party. more commonly, the rights are retained and other 

parties are given rights to use the work in various forms (to use one copy of the computer 

software, to record the music track and distribute it, etc) in return for fees such as 

ongoing licence fees.


copyright is established as soon as the work is created, it does not need to be registered or applied for.

in the case of employees, ownership of the works that they create usually lies with the employer.
 