Copyright Licensing
From original musical recordings to blog engries to software code, a wide spectrum of "things" qualify for copyright protection, assuming they are original works of authorship. Broadly stated, copyright laws are designed to prevent the unauthorized use of those protectable works of authorship. Of course, the key word in that sentence is "unauthorized." Many authors of copyrightable material seek to profit from their works by licensing the right to use the material to others. John Hines, one of our copyright experts in Chicago, recently penned (shouldn't we change that to "typed," since people rarely actually write anything anymore; I digress) a very detailed, informative article on copyright licensing, which is a must read for any one curious about the topic. The article was prepared for the Practicing Law Institute's "Understanding the Intellectual Property License 2009."
