Copyrights, however complicated they may seem, are guided by a main 'rule' of sorts. This rule says effectively; "You write it, You own it." While copyrights have many more complex ways of saying this, the only thing, from an author's viewpoint, is that what you have written is your 'Intellectual Property' (Ideas/Writings/Art/Etc that you made.)
Someone, however, cannot say that because a word/phrase is in their writing, no one can use it. For example; My novel, SilverLink, has a character named Lynn, you are free to use the name, even to base a different character off of him, but you can't take my character and transplant him into another story without stating it as my I.P., and usually asking my permission
Generally, this is where the majority of your copyrights end. But there are also several rules that you must follow, and a few common courtesies to observe, when using another's work.
Almost all of the time, if you use someone's work with out their consent, you are breaking copyright law. There are a few exceptions, however. One such exception is that you are allowed to copy parts of the writer's work (short quotes) and parenthetically cite them (or use A/Ns (Author's Note) as long as it is mentioned).
Another of these exceptions is pertinent to Fan Fictions. Many a person has said that when a fan-fic is written, it becomes property of the author of the original story. This is not true. The author does own the original story, and all of the content that is derived from their work. You, however, own any new, fresh ideas that you write in a fan-fic. It is still common courtesy to respect the author's rights when writing a fan-fic, and if it is a particularly non-canon fan-fic, it is still best to ask the author if it is okay. You don't want to get an email from your favorite author's legal assistant asking you to remove something, do you.
This list will grow, if you want anything else covered, just post a comment, and if I am wrong, then call me on it, but this about as simply as you can put it without removing truth. Thanks for reading, and please comment
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