The wording is from Circular #1 published by the US Copyright Office.

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"Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (Title 17, CFR) and internationally by agreement with member nations to the Universal Copyright Convention and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Copyright is a personal property right, and is subject to the various laws regarding ownership and transfer of personal property.

Copyright law protects works both published and unpublished, including graphics and drawings, digital or otherwise. Copyright protection exists from the moment a work is created in fixed form. It is coincident with the process of authorship. The copyright to any created work immediately becomes the property of the author at the moment of authorship.

A copyright need not be formally applied for, nor formally granted: It is automatic.

Proof of copyright ownership is enhanced by registering the copyright, but copyright ownership is not created by registration. Copyright protection is also enhanced by giving "notice of copyright" on the work itself.

Notice of copyright consists of:
 

1. The word "Copyright" or the symbol ©, followed by
2. The date of creation, and
3. The author's name.

Only the author of a work can rightfully claim copyright. Among other kinds of work, copyright protects literary, pictorial, graphic, and architectural works.

Transfers of copyright ownership are made by contract. A work especially commissioned, such as a piece of writing, or design, or book, or graphic is the copyrighted property of the author. The parties may of course expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the copyright is to be transferred to a party other than the author. However, without such a contract, a commissioned work belongs entirely to the author.

Copyright endures for the author's life, plus 50 years. In the case of works "made for hire," where ownership is transferred by contract to a party other than the author, copyright endures for 100 years from creation, or for 75 years from the date of publishing, whichever is shorter."

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