What rights do I have as a copyright owner?

In the United States, a copyright owner generally has what is often referred to as a bundle of rights that include the exclusive rights to:

• Reproduce the original work;
• Create derivative works base on the original work;
• Distribute copies of the original work by gift, sale, rental, lease, or lending;
• Perform certain original works publicly;
• Display the original work publicly, including pictures or other images of or from the original work;
• Perform his/her original sound recordings publicly via digital audio transmission.

Subject to certain limitation, authors of works of visual art also have the rights of attribution and integrity which include the right to:

• Claim authorship of that work;
• Prevent the use of his or her name as the author of any work of visual art which he or she did not create;
• Prevent the use of his or her name as the author of the work of visual art in the event of a distortion, mutilation, or other modification of the work which would be prejudicial to his or her honor or reputation;
• Prevent any intentional distortion, mutilation, or other modification of that work which would be prejudicial to his or her honor or reputation (any intentional distortion, mutilation, or modification of that work is a violation of that right); and
• Prevent any destruction of a work of recognized stature (any intentional or grossly negligent destruction of that work is a violation of that right).