Legal Terms

copyright owner

Under the Copyright Act of 1976, a term with two meanings. First, it refers to the person or entity listed as the owner in the U.S. Copyright Office, usually the original author or developer. Second, it refers to a person or entity to which an exclusive part of the copyright has been transferred in writing. For instance, if Harry writes and copyrights a book, then sells the right to prepare a screenplay based on the book to a movie studio, both he and the studio are copyright owners.