When you create a work in some sort of tangible form (in other words, you wrote, sculpted, or composed something which exists outside of your thoughts) it become legally protected. That protection is called copyright and you are the copyright owner. For example, if you draw a stick figure of your cat on a square of toilet paper, that work becomes copyrighted and you own the copyright to that work.
As the copyright owner you have the exclusive rights to:
- display this work publicly
- perform this work publicly
- make copies of this work
- distribute copies of this work
- create new works derived, remixed, tweaked, or built upon this work
- allow others to do some or all of the above
- transfer some or all of the rights above
Adapted from
A Copyright Owner's Rights.
