Editing Copynorms (section)

== Legal background ==
Copyright law is actually a collection of legal rules.  Typically, copyright statutes confer a bundle of legal rights on the author or proprietor of a work (writing, a musical composition or an image), including the exclusive right to make copies of the work, subject to the [[fair use]]. Legal rules carry legal consequences.  Violation of copyrights can give rise to [[Civil liability|civil]] and [[criminal liability]].  

In the [[United States]], the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]] grants [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] power to secure exclusive rights of authors to their writings, and Congress has exercised that power in a comprehensive statutory scheme, codified in [[Title 17 of the United States Code]]. 

Each nation has its own copyright laws and international treaties set minimum standards for copyright legislation.  This entry focuses on the laws of the United States as an example.