What term means legal protection that grants creators exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute their works?

• A. Copyright
• B. Patent
• C. Trademark
• D. License

Answer: (A)

Copyright is legal protection that gives creators exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, display, perform, and create derivative works from their original creations. This covers books, songs, artwork, software, films, and other original works. The purpose is to reward creativity by allowing the creator to control how their work is used and to earn income from it, typically through licensing or sale. In many places, copyright arises automatically when the work is fixed in a tangible form, though registration can aid enforcement. It lasts for the author’s life plus additional years, after which the work often enters the public domain.

A patent protects new inventions or processes, a trademark guards brand identifiers like names and logos, and a license is permission to use someone else’s protected work rather than a form of protection itself.