EXCERPT, California Civil Code

Section 980.

(a)(1) The author of any original work of authorship that is not fixed in any tangible medium of expression has as exclusive ownership in the representation or expression thereof as against all persons except one who originally and independently creates the same or similar work. A work shall be considered not fixed when it is not embodied in a tangible medium of expression or when its embodiment in a tangible medium of expression is not sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more thatn transitory duration, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

(a)(2) The author of an original work of authorship consisting of a sound recording initially fixed prior to February 15, 1972, has an exclusive ownership therin until February 15, 2047, as against all persons except one who independently makes or duplicates another sound recording that does not directly or indirectly recapture the actual sounds fixed in such prior sound recording, but consists entirely of an independent fixation of other sound, even though such sounds imitate or simulated the sounds contained in the prior sound recording.

(b) [rights of unpublished inventions]