Exhaustive lists of works covered by copyright are usually not to be found in legislation. Nonetheless, broadly speaking, works commonly protected by copyright throughout the world include:

• literary works such as novels, poems, plays, reference works, newspaper articles.
• computer programs, databases.
• films, musical compositions, and choreography.
• artistic works such as paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculpture.
• architecture; and advertisements, maps, and technical drawings.
• Copyright protection extends only to expressions, and not to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such. Copyright may or may not be available for a number of objects such as titles, slogans, or logos, depending on whether they contain sufficient authorship.

In the majority of countries, and according to the Berne Convention, copyright protection is obtained automatically without the need for registration or other formalities.

Most countries nonetheless have a system in place to allow for the voluntary registration of works. Such voluntary registrations systems can help solve disputes over ownership or creation, as well as facilitate financial transactions, sales, and the assignment and/or transfer of rights.

In the past, some countries had legislation in place that required the copyright holder to comply with certain formalities in order to receive copyright protection. One of those formalities was to include an indication that copyright had been claimed, such as by using the symbol ©. Currently, very few countries still impose formalities on copyright; therefore the use of such symbols is no longer a legal requirement. Nonetheless, many right owners still include the symbol © as a highly visible way to emphasize that that work is protected by copyright and that all rights are reserved, as opposed to a less restrictive license.

Once you are the right owner of a work, you can provide authorization for others to use or exploit your work. Such authorizations are commonly referred to as “licenses” and may or may not entail paying the rights owner. Naturally, it is always recommended to seek expert legal advice before negotiating a licensing agreement.

If you wish to license your work to users such as broadcasters, publishers, or even entertainment establishments (i.e. bars, nightclubs), joining a collective management organization (CMO) may be a good option. CMOs monitor uses of works on behalf of creators and publishers and are in charge of negotiating licenses and collecting remuneration. They are particularly common in the field of musical and literary works where there may be a large number of users of the same work and it would be difficult both for the owner of rights and the users to seek specific authorization for every single use and to monitor them.

There is no searchable international registry of copyright-protected works. This is because, as a general rule, copyright protection is automatic and does not depend on registration. In some countries, however you may encounter a voluntary copyright registry/depository and registering your work can be a smart choice as it would considerably assist you in the case of a dispute, for example over the ownership of the work.

In general you always need authorization (this may take the form of licensing or an assignment of rights) before using a protected work. For certain uses, the authorization may come from a collective management organization instead of directly from the right owner, for example the authorization to use a song at a public concert. You may be allowed to use a protected work without any kind of authorization under two sets of circumstances:

• Limitations and exceptions may exist at the national level, allowing you to use the work.
• o Works can also sometimes be made publicly available under specific conditions or licenses that allow certain uses. When using such works, attention must be paid to the specific conditions of the licenses in order to identify exactly what is and isn’t permitted by the right owner. There are several such licenses in common usage, e.g. the Creative Commons license, MIT License, the Mozilla Public License, and many others.

You are in doubt; it is always advisable to speak to an intellectual property attorney.