The rights arising from the work are usually organized into two main categories:

a) Moral rights
These are non-transferable and inalienable. They stay with the author throughout their lifetime. After death, they are transferred to heirs or designated persons. They protect the personal link between the author and the work. They include, for example, the right to be recognized as the author and to oppose modifications that harm the integrity or reputation of the creator.

b) Property or exploitation rights (Economic rights)
These allow the owner to authorize or prohibit uses such as reproduction, distribution, public communication, or transformation (adaptations, translations, etc.) and, where appropriate, to obtain remuneration.
This distinction is key to understanding why citing and attributing is not just an academic issue: it connects with the recognition of authorship (moral right), while copying or disseminating a work usually affects exploitation rights.

The Intellectual Property Law also recognizes the right to make private copies without prior authorization, provided that there is no profit motive or collective use, that the work has already been disclosed, and that it has been accessed legally. As compensation for the rights that are not received for these copies, a compensatory levy is established that is applied to media and devices suitable for recording (CDs, DVDs, players, cameras, photocopiers, etc.) and thus remunerates the owners for the private use of their works that may occur.

As the owner, the author (or whoever holds the rights) may allow uses of their work through:

• Licenses: authorizations for certain uses (for example, allowing reproduction or public communication under certain conditions).
• Assignments or transfers: transfer of economic rights to a third party; in general, these rights can be transferred by written document.
• Collective management: in some sectors, certain rights may be managed through entities that administrate authorizations or royalties.

In the EU and, as a general rule, also in Spain, the usual term of protection for exploitation rights is the life of the author + 70 years (with particularities depending on the type of work or specific cases).
When this term expires, the work enters the public domain, allowing it to be used freely and without charge by anyone, provided that the inalienable moral rights are respected. Even so, aspects related to the recognition of authorship must be respected where applicable.
A work may also be in the public domain if the author expressly waives their economic rights.

An orphan work is a copyrighted work whose owners cannot be identified or located after a diligent search (consulting registries, specialized databases, and other reasonable sources, as appropriate). The problem with this is that, although the rights are still valid, there is no one to ask for permission to use the work, which greatly hinders its dissemination and exploitation.