1. Benefits of copyright protection
Copyright is essentially a private right. You, the copyright owner must decide how to exploit your copyright work and how to enforce your copyright. A copyright owner can decide whether or not there will be any use of the copyright work falling within the scope of the economic rights and, if so, whether he or she will use the copyright work and/or license one or more other people to use the work.
A copyright owner can also benefit from copyright by selling or agreeing a transfer of copyright to someone else.
Many of the options available to a copyright owner will involve contractual agreements which may be just as important as the rights provided by copyright law. The right contractual agreement can minimise the chances of a dispute over use of your copyright work.
As a copyright owner, you may also like to consider the benefits of belonging to an organisation representing copyright owners in your area.
2. Automatic protection
There is no official registration system for copyright in the United Kingdom (UK) and most other parts of the world. There are no forms to fill in and no fees to pay to get copyright protection.
So long as you have created a work that qualifies for copyright protection, that is it falls into one of the categories of material protected by copyright, you will have copyright protection without having to do anything to establish this. It is a requirement of various international conventions on copyright that copyright should be automatic with no need to register.
To help protect your copyright work, it is advisable to mark it with the © symbol, the name of the copyright owner and the year of publication. Although this is not essential, it will let others know when the term of protection started and hence whether it is still covered by copyright, and indicate who to approach should they need to ask permission to use the work.
3. Copyright Registers
There is no official copyright register because copyright is automatic. There are certain steps you can take to protect your rights, but you do not have to register anywhere.
There are, however, a number of companies that offer unofficial copyright registers. You should think very carefully whether this is a useful service for you before choosing this route. Some of the things to think about are:
* How much does it cost and is it a one-off or regular payment?
* Are you paying just for a registration, or does the cost cover more than this, for example help with a legal action should your copyright be infringed?
* Is the registration likely to be better than the evidence you can create for yourself by sending a copy of the work to yourself by Special Delivery post and not opening the envelope upon its return?
* Are you likely to have a problem proving that you had the copyright material at a certain time which is all that registration can help prove?
Note that neither registration nor sending a copy of the work to yourself show that you were the creator of the work. Keeping copies of all your drafts and any other material that shows your connection with the particular copyright material as you develop it could, however, be useful evidence if you ever have to prove that you are the author.
4. Other protection
In addition to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 there are other related protection for Copyright work:
Database right
A database may be protected by copyright if it is original or by database right,
Conditional access technology
Conditional access technology generally refers to technical measures, such as smart cards or other decoders, which allow you to view or listen to encrypted broadcasts.
Copy protection devices
For copyright material issued to the public in an electronic form, you can use technical measures so that it is not possible to make a copy of the material, that is, it is copy-protected.
Publication right
Publication right gives you rights equivalent to copyright if you publish for the first time a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or a film in which copyright has expired.
Performer's rights
Performers are entitled to various rights in their performances, whether these take place on the stage, during a concert, when making a film, when playing/singing for a sound recording and so on.
Enforcing copyright abroad
Most countries of the world are members of one or more international agreements. This means automatic protection in all member countries for works created in the United Kingdom.
Copyright applies to
* Computing and the internet
* Photographs
* TV and Films
* Art
* Written work
* Music
* Theatre
* Spoken word
5.Using and buying other people's copyright
Copyright is a type of intellectual property. Like physical property, it cannot usually be used without the owner's permission. Of course, the copyright owner may refuse to give permission for use of their work.
It is important to remember that just buying or owning the original or a copy of a copyright work does not give you permission to use it how you wish. For example, buying a copy of a book, CD, video, computer program and so on, does not necessarily give you the right to make copies (even for private use), play or show them in public.
Other everyday uses of copyright material, such as photocopying, scanning, downloading from a CD-ROM or on-line database, all involve copying the work so permission is generally needed. Also use going beyond an agreed licence will require further permission.
Licence
Some minor uses may fall within the scope of one of the exceptions to copyright, but if you want to use a copyright work, you will usually need to approach the copyright owner and ask for a licence to cover the use you require.
A licence is a contract between you and the copyright owner and it is for both parties to negotiate the terms and conditions, including the payment or royalty for the use. There are no rules in copyright law governing what may be acceptable terms and conditions, but other law, particularly competition law, might be relevant to licence agreements.
Collective licensing
Sometimes copyright owners act collectively to licence certain uses and collective licensing bodies can be approached for a licence. There are many organisations that represent copyright owners and users.
6. Obtaining a license from a copyright owner
If you want to use a work that is under copyright, it is likely that you will need to approach the copyright owner in order to obtain a licence. However, there are certain exceptions to copyright that can allow you to use a limited amount of the work.
These are some forms of licenses that you be able to obtain from the right holder:
Exclusive license
An exclusive licence could be granted, but remember that this enables the licensee to use the copyright work to the exclusion of all others, including the copyright owner. Any licence agreed can relate to one or more of the economic rights and can also be limited in time or any other way. It is a contractual agreement between the copyright owner and user.
Implied License
Copyright work is subject to an implied licence even when there has been no agreement about a licence.
Limited use license
Often a copyright owner will only give permission for some uses of a work, for example, publication of a photograph in a particular newspaper, and if you want to use the work in any other way, for example, by publishing the photograph in a magazine, you will need to seek further permission.
Collecting Societies
In some situations, copyright owners find it difficult to license use of their works by themselves and so they have formed organisations, called collecting societies or collective licensing bodies. Further information on collecting societies is available.
7. Infringing other peoples copyright
Infringement of copyright occurs where either the whole or a substantial part of a work is used without permission, unless the copying falls within the scope of one of the copyright exceptions. The term substantial part is not defined under copyright law but has been interpreted by the courts to mean a significant part of the work. This does not mean, however, that it needs to be a large part of the work.
Copyright gives the creators of a wide range of material, such as literature, art, music, sound recordings, films and broadcasts, economic rights. It does not protect ideas, or such things as names or titles.
Authors are able to control use of their material in a number of ways, such as:
* making copies
* issuing copies to the public,
* performing in public,
* broadcasting and use on-line.
It also gives moral rights to be identified as the creator of certain kinds of material, and to object to distortion or mutilation of it.
The purpose of copyright is to allow creators to gain economic rewards for their efforts and so encourage future creativity and the development of new material which benefits us all. Copyright material is usually the result of creative skill and/or significant labour and/or investment, and without protection, it would often be very easy for others to exploit material without paying the creator.
Most uses of copyright material therefore require permission from the copyright owner. However there are exceptions to copyright, so that some minor uses may not infringe copyright.
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