Copy Rights

Confusion abounds concerning copyright. Often newcomers to the writing field think that a "copyright" somehow, mysteriously, protects their ideas and productions from theft. Sadly, no. It is an intangible authority to control the use and reproduction of material, including items on the Internet. This does not cover facts or ideas. Moreover, copyright law contains a "fair use" clause that allows limited reproduction without an author's permission for certain purposes such as a critique or reporting news as long as the value of the original work is not diminished by the use. A more recent form of rights management is offered by Creative Commons, and Copyscape offers to suss out copies of your web pages on the Internet.