User:Akgreg25/Author

Introduction: edited for clarity and organization in order to better lead into the article and lay out the definition.

An author is often thought of as the writer of a book, article, play, or other written work. However, according to legal discourse, an author is the creator of any original work, whether that be written, graphic, or recorded medium. A sculptor, painter, or composer is also considered to be the author of their respective sculptures, paintings, or compositions. In the case of a work for hire, "the employer or commissioning party is considered the author of the work", even if they did not write or otherwise create the work, but merely instructed another individual to do so.

Copyright section: combined sentences for flow and succinctness.

The copyrights on intellectual work expire after it enters the public domain, and it can then be used without limit. Copyright laws in many jurisdictions have been amended repeatedly since their inception to extend the length of this fixed period where the work is exclusively controlled by the copyright holder.

Public Domain section: updated for succinctness.

The copyrights on intellectual work expire after a certain time and it enters the public domain where it can be used without limit.

Poor wording in the original, updated for flow and clarity. Original sentence was clunky and hard to read.

Authors may portion out the different rights they hold to different parties at different times and for different purposes. For example, an author may allow their story to be made into a film adaptation, a television series or a video game. If there has already been an adaptation, then a production company may have to avoid character names in order to avoid copyright.

Updated author statistics:

In the year 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 130,000 people worked in the country as authors, making an average of $61,240 per year.

As of 2022, roughly 151,200 people in the United States worked as authors, making an annual median wage of $73,150. This, however, is only taking literary authors into account.