Final answer:
Copyright owners have the right to prevent unauthorized reproduction, distribution, and public performance of their works, though 'fair use' permits limited use without the owner's permission for purposes like criticism or teaching. The copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years, allowing for control over the work for a considerable time.
Step-by-step explanation:
The rights of a copyright owner are designed to protect against various unauthorized uses of their original works of authorship. These rights include the ability to control the unauthorized reproduction of the work, the distribution of copies to the public, the public performance of the work, and the creation of derivative works. Notably, however, there is an exception to these protections called 'fair use.' Fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.
Copyright protection ordinarily lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years, granting extensive control to the copyright holders during this time. Nonetheless, fair use serves as a critical balance in copyright law, ensuring that the dissemination of ideas and the public's ability to engage with creative works is not unreasonably restricted.