Copyright is the ownership and control of the intellectual property in original works of authorship which are subject to copyright law. It is the policy of the IDES that all rights in copyright shall remain with the publisher.

Under the copyright law, copyright subsists in "original works of authorship" which have been fixed in any tangible medium of expression from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. These works include:

• Literary works such as books, journal articles, poems, manuals, memoranda, tests, computer programs, instructional material, databases, bibliographies;
• Musical works including any accompanying words;
• Dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
• Pantomimes and choreographic works (if fixed, as in notation or videotape);
• Pictorial, graphic and sculptural works, including photographs, diagrams, sketches and integrated circuit masks;
• Motion pictures and other audiovisual works such as videotapes;
• Sound recordings.

Protection does not extend to any idea, process, concept, discovery or the like, but only to the work in which it may be embodied, illustrated, or explained. For example, a written description of a manufacturing process is copyrightable, but the copyright only prevents unauthorized copying of the description; the process described could be freely copied unless it enjoys some other protection, such as patent.