The right to publication, copyright, reproduction right, or copyright is a set of exclusive rights belonging to the publisher or creator of an original and unique work, including rights such as publication, reproduction, and pattern copying of the work. In most legal jurisdictions, copyright belongs to the author from the moment a work is created, and registration of the work is not necessary. The equivalent of this right in legal systems following the copyright law is the author's right.
Copyright holders have legal and exclusive rights for a specified period to control reproduction and other uses of their works, after which the work enters the public domain. Any use and exploitation of these works are subject to obtaining permission from the publisher or creator of the work. Usage under certain conditions, such as fair use, does not require permission from the copyright holder according to the law. Copyright holders can transfer their rights to another person.
In some legal jurisdictions, moral rights or intellectual property rights of authors are also recognized, such as the right to attribution for a work.
There is no such thing as "international copyright" that automatically protects authors' writings worldwide. Protection against use in any country depends on the national laws of that country. However, most countries provide protections for foreign works under specific conditions, largely facilitated by international treaties and conventions simplified copyright. Two important conventions in this regard exist: the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, there are countries that offer little or no copyright protection for foreign works.