The legal theory of copyright is that it consists of a collection or “bundle” of divisible rights, indeed it might better be described as copyrights. Thus a copyright owner normally receives the statutory rights to control:
- reproduction;
- preparation of derivative works;
- distribution of copies;
- public performances; and
- public display.
If the owner is also the author, he/she may also have “moral rights”.
Copyright owners have generally gone further, contractually subdividing the bundle into a host of other rights, for example, paperback and hardback rights, rights to publish translations, cinematographic rights, merchandising rights, rights to make games, etc.