Copyrights are temporally limited because they have fixed terms. The Berne Convention – an important copyright treaty – sets a minimum term limit of 50 years. The general trend has been to increase the limit in most countries.
Copyright protection is limited geographically. A copyright owner must rely upon the law of the country in which the infringing act has occurred to enforce its copyright. For protection against acts in another country, the copyright owner must rely upon the laws of that country.
Copyright protection may also be limited by the doctrine of “fair use” or some other similar permitted use restriction.
Copyright protection may also be limited by other miscellaneous limitations like the right to make temporary recordings for the purpose of broadcasting or by some compulsory (or forced) license scheme.
Copyright owners are generally entitled to three types of remedies. The first remedy is the remedy of ex parte seizure, or an Anton Piller order, which is named for the British case of the same name.
In the U.S., a party cannot go to court and get an order restricting the rights of another without the knowledge of the restricted party. An important exception exists in copyright law and to a lesser extent in other areas of intellectual-property law.
A copyright owner who has a particularly strong preliminary case of infringement can go before a judge to obtain a seizure order against the accused infringer, allowing the copyright owner to seize the allegedly infringing material. This usually occurs in cases of blatant piracy.
Copyright owners may also be entitled to injunctions (both preliminary injunctions or permanent injunctions) and monetary damages.