The physical media in which literature, music and the plastic arts are recorded such as books, plays, scores, drawings, paintings, films and CDs are protected by copyright. The law protects not only "economic rights" (the right to earn revenues from licensing reproduction and performance) but also their "moral rights" (the integrity of the work and the reputation of the author).
The performances of actors, dancers, musicians, singers and other performers are protected form unauthorized recording by rights in performances.
New digital technologies that enable any number of perfect copies of a copyright work or performance to be made and disseminated around the world almost instantaneously and at very little cost have produced new challenges for the law.
