Copyright: What is it?

Artists, writers, innovators, and entrepreneurs...in fact creative and business people from all backgrounds; mostly those starting out, but even some with a level of experience in their field behind them, have at some point or another realized they've had misconceptions about what copyright is, how it works, for what types of creative work, and what it can do for them.

So, let's get started, and perhaps with the most obvious questions anyone may have about copyright; what is it, and why does it exist in the first place?

Let's start with the latter question first.

Why copyright exists

Imagine this scenario; you build a cottage, say, to your own design. It's a beautiful, Tudor-style, thatched roof affair, with a small, well-kept garden, and a breath-taking view of rolling, verdant green hills offering spectacular sunsets in the evening. Now imagine someone finds out about