copyright
UK /ˈkɒpiˌɹaɪt/ · US /ˈkɑpiˌɹaɪt/ noun, verb
Forms copyrights copyrighting copyrighted
- noun (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.”
- noun (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.”
- noun (uncountable, informal, nonstandard) A violation of copyright law; copyright infringement. “no copyright intended”
- verb (transitive, intransitive) To obtain or secure a copyright for some literary or other artistic work.
- verb (transitive, informal, nonstandard) To flag for copyright violation, to copystrike. “I won’t play this track, I don’t wanna get copyrighted.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From copy + right.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “copyright”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details