The author of a book, the composer or lyrics writer of a song, the photographer or painter of a picture, the writer of a computer program – all of these people have created an original work. In Germany, this "intellectual property” is protected by the copyright law of 1965. It also covers newspaper articles, items on radio and television, academic works and more besides. What is important is that the work is an independent creation and not a forbidden imitation. People who build a reproduction of a machine without permission or make pirate copies of DVDs or CDs, for example, are prosecuted and punished. Reproductions like these are legally known as "counterfeit consumer goods”. In 1990, the penalties for such violations of copyright were increased in Germany.

As a rule, copyright expires 70 years after the death of the originator of a particular work. This is however only the case if by this time there are no heirs or other people who can decide what is allowed to be done with the work.

Over the past few years, there have been problems with copyright because the electronic copying of music, for example, has become much faster and simpler, and is often undetectable. To whom do the knowledge and information on the Web actually belong? How can the rights of authors and artists be protected despite the freedoms offered by the internet? These questions are being asked more and more frequently. Although there are international agreements that are meant to guard against violations of copyright, the problem is by no means solved. All over the world, work is now being done on developing electronic monitoring systems.