Enforcement of copyright requires applications to the Copyright Office and a tangible media

[Gary,07/13/2023, American Public University, “What Is Intellectual Property Law? And Why Does it Matter?”, https://www.apu.apus.edu/area-of-study/security-and-global-studies/resources/what-is-intellectual-property-law/#:~:text=IP%20Laws,variety%20of%20products%20and%20services, accessed 7/11/2024, LR]

The Copyright Office

However, registering your work with the Copyright Office can provide you with a record of ownership should you need to take legal action against someone attempting to use your copyrighted work without permission in the future.

To be eligible for copyright protection, a work must be original and fixed in a tangible medium of expression. This means that the work must be created by the author and that it must be recorded in some way, such as in writing, on film, on a record, or in a computer file.

Copyright protection does not extend to ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, or discoveries, although it may protect the way these things are expressed.

For example, a copyright would not protect an idea for a new movie, but it could protect the way a movie is eventually written, casted, directed, and produced.

In the United States, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. In the case of works created by multiple authors, the copyright lasts for the life of the last surviving author plus an additional 70 years.