Copyright law explained

The copyright law allows the holder of a copyright to authorize someone else to make the work public.
For example, book authors may allow their manuscripts to be published by a publishing company or dramatists may allow their plays to be performed on stage.

The author's work must be original and not a copy.
Examples of copyrighted material include:

Among rights, copyright owners have the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, distribute and, in relation to certain works, publicly perform or display a work.
These rights are exclusive to the copyright owner, but they are not unlimited.
The Copyright Act establishes certain limitations on these rights.
These limitations may be in various forms.

A copyright grants the holder permission to make copies of a creative work.
A trademark is a design, mark, letter, or symbol a company uses to distinguish itself from others of like trade.
The Nike swish is an example of a trademark.
The US government registers and protects trademarks like the Nike swish.