copyright

From copy + right.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑpiˌɹaɪt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒpiˌɹaɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: copywrite
• Hyphenation: copy‧right
• Rhymes: -aɪt

copyright (usually uncountable, plural copyrights)

1. (uncountable) The right by law to be the entity which determines who may publish, copy and distribute a piece of writing, music, picture or other work of authorship.

   Copyright is a separate legal area from trademarks.

   • 1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 420:

     One of the important points that would have to be examined in such a discussion would be how far the growth of this class has been artificially stimulated by the law of copyright.¹

2. (countable) Such an exclusive right as it pertains to one or more specific works.

   The artist lost the copyrights to her songs when she signed the contract.

   The images are still copyright of the original artist.

   • 2005, Gerard M Stegmaier, The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: 2005 supplement:

     For me personally, the copyrights and "copywrongs," as I have called them, simply boil down to either one or two things, and that is it's either an act of distribution or it is an act of consumption.

   • 2012 January 18, Bill Mears, “Justices allow copyrights on foreign works”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     The 1994 law in question was designed to put the United States in compliance with global treaties on intellectual property– the Berne Convention and the so-called Uruguay Round. The federal legislation created copyrights to foreign works that had not previously been covered.

3. (uncountable, informal, nonstandard) A violation of copyright law; copyright infringement.

   no copyright intended

   • 2019 October 23, Christine Fisher, “House passes controversial copyright bill that could be abused by trolls”, in Engadget‎^[2]:

     Anyone accused of copyright would have sixty days to opt-out of the Copyright Claims Board process, in which case the plaintiff would have to seek legal action in court.

copyright (third-person singular simple present copyrights, present participle copyrighting, simple past and past participle copyrighted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To obtain or secure a copyright for some literary or other artistic work.
   • 1907, United States Congress House. Committee on Appropriations, District of Columbia Appropriations, page 253:

     Every book will be copyrighted that the publisher believes will have such a market as will justify him in going to the expense of copyrighting to prevent competition from other publishers.

   • 1993, Gyeorgos Ceres Hatonn, The Beast at Work, →ISBN, page 161:

     Further, Mr. Mullins writes FOR YOU-THE-PEOPLE, copyrighting to protect listings and to make a statement—but willingly shares his work for, after all, if it is not read then of what worth is a book?

   • 1997, Marc Davison, All Area Access: Personal Management for Unsigned Musicians, →ISBN, page 171:

     The sealed contents inside postmarked by the United States Post office will be proof enough of exactly when your work was completed. The disadvantage to this form of copyrighting is that your work is not traceable for anyone who is interested in acquiring information regarding copyright ownership.

   • 2002, Spider-Man (film)

     J. J. Jameson: The Green Goblin. You like that? Made it up myself. These weirdos all gotta have a name now. Hoffman! Call the patent office, copyright the name "Green Goblin". I want a quarter every time somebody says it.

   • 2006, Josh Becker, Bruce Campbell, The Complete Guide to Low-Budget Feature Filmmaking, →ISBN, page 55:

     When your script is completed you need to copyright it with the Library of Congress in Washington DC (you can get the forms from: Register of Copyrights, Library of Congress, Washington DC, 20559. Request form PA, or you can download them from www.loc.gov/copyright).

   • 2008, Ann Gaines, Don't Steal Copyrighted Stuff!, →ISBN:

     Everything else that is written or created is automatically copyrighted.

2. (transitive, informal, nonstandard) To flag for copyright violation, to copystrike.

   I won’t play this track, I don’t wanna get copyrighted.

• copyrightable

• copyfight
• copyleft
• copyright infringement
• exclusive right
• copywrong

Borrowed from English copyright.

• IPA^(key): /kopirai̯t/ [ko.pi.rai̯t̪]
• Rhymes: -irai̯t, -ai̯t

copyright inan

1. copyright

• “copyright”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]

From English copyright.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkopirɑi̯t/, [ˈko̞pirɑ̝i̯t̪]
• Rhymes: -opirɑit

copyright

1. synonym of tekijänoikeus (“copyright”)

• “copyright”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

Borrowed from English copyright.

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.pi.ʁajt/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

copyright m (plural copyrights)

1. copyright

   Il était … une petite grenouille
   Copyright Clé International, Paris 1986.

   There Once Was… a Little Frog
   Copyright Clé International, Paris 1986.

• “copyright”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Unadapted borrowing from English copyright.

• IPA^(key): /ko.piˈrajt/, /ˌkɔ.piˈrajt/^[1][2]
• Rhymes: -ajt

copyright m

1. copyright

Unadapted borrowing from English copyright

copyright m (invariable)

1. copyright

   Synonyms: direito autoral, direitos autorais, direito de autor, direitos de autor, (Brazil) copirraite

• “copyright”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “copyright”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Unadapted borrowing from English copyright.

copyright n (uncountable)

1. copyright

Unadapted borrowing from English copyright.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkopirait/ [ˈko.pi.rai̯t̪]
  • Rhymes: -opirait
• IPA^(key): /kopiˈrait/ [ko.piˈrai̯t̪]
  • Rhymes: -ait
• Syllabification: co‧py‧right

copyright m (plural copyrights)

1. copyright

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

• “copyright”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025