Digital copyright protects creative works in digital media, including through digital rights management (DRM) software. It arises as soon as a work is created and only protects actual creations, not ideas. DRM is commonly used to prevent piracy, which infringes on intellectual property rights.
A digital copyright is an extension of any other type of copyright that protects a creative work in various digital media. This is typically used to ensure that work that exists in digital form is protected just like work that exists in a physical form. This has become increasingly important with the proliferation of computers and digital media. Such protection also typically involves how a work can be protected against copying, such as digital rights management (DRM) software. A digital copyright is established on any original and creative work that exists in a digital medium.
Just like other types of copyright, a digital copyright arises and grants protection for a work as soon as that work is created. This means that someone who writes a story or essay of an original work into a computer has a copyright on that work as soon as it is typed. This protection does not extend to the ideas that a person may have, but can only be used to protect works actually created, even if only in digital form. As more and more media have become digital-only, without a physical copy, the establishment and extent of digital copyright protection has become increasingly important.
One of the most common methods used to protect a digital copyright, called DRM, is often included in references to such copyrights. DRM typically refers to software that protects digital media from being copied, reproduced, or accessed without the proper credentials to establish ownership or licensing of a product. Computer games, for example, are often protected by DRMs that require an Internet connection or other certification for a person to access the game. This type of digital copyright protection can be part of copyright itself, and circumventing or disabling DRM on digital media can potentially be considered copyright infringement.
A digital copyright is also an important aspect of copyright infringement involving digital piracy. Those engaged in such piracy have argued that no form of theft occurs through such piracy, as piracy often involves only copying one type of media and not necessarily transferring a physical copy of that media. A digital copyright on a particular object, however, makes that object, and all copies of it, the legal property of the copyright holder. Copies can be legally transferred by sale or by permission of the owner, but unauthorized copies infringe copyright and therefore can be considered intellectual property theft.
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