Copyright: Overview
Copyright offers protection for original "works" including literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, published editions of works, sound recordings, films and broadcasts. The protection is not for the underlying ideas or concepts but for the work itself.
Copyright comes into existence automatically when a new work is created. The duration of copyright is generally the life of the author of the work plus 70 years. Special rules apply to the duration of some types of copyright. For example, sound recordings and broadcasts only benefit from protection for 50 years from their publication.
In some countries, the USA being one example, it is possible (and in certain circumstances advisable) to register your copyright works but, unlike patents, registered trade marks and registered designs, registration of copyright is not a pre-condition for the right to exist in the first place. In many countries, including the UK, there is no mechanism for registering copyright.
To obtain the full benefit of any copyright protection it is vital that you can show that you are the owner of the copyright. It is important, therefore, to maintain good records of the circumstances in which new copyright works are created, including when they were created and by whom. In addition, if you are not the actual author of the work then you may not own the copyright in the first instance. Employers will generally own the copyright in works created by their employees during the course of their employment but determining when this rule applies is not always straightforward. In all cases the safest approach is to have a written agreement with the author (e.g. employment contract, commissioning agreement, etc) that transfers the copyright to you.The protection provided by copyright is limited in some respects. Most notably actual copying of the copyright work by the alleged infringer must be proved. This means that copyright is not a "monopoly" right. Unlike patents, registered trade marks and registered designs, if the alleged infringer’s work was developed without any reference to your copyright work then there is no infringement, no matter how similar the two works are. Of course, if the two works are very similar or identical then there is a strong inference that copying has occurred and it is likely that the burden will then be on the alleged infringer to prove that they did not copy.
In addition to straight copying, the protection afforded by copyright also extends to adaptations of copyright works (e.g. translations into different languages or media). It is also possible to take action against people who are distributing infringing copies as well as people who are communicating a copyright work to the public (e.g. by broadcasting them), renting or lending them to the public, or performing them in public, if they are doing so without the permission of the copyright owner.
If you do successfully show that someone has infringed your copyright then a Court can offer various remedies including, for example, an injunction to forbid further copying and damages to compensate you for any loses you have incurred as a direct result of the copyright infringement. Going to Court, however, is generally a last resort and more often the parties will negotiate a settlement, avoiding the significant expense of a Court action.
If you would like advice in relation to a specific copyright issue, especially issues involving copyright in industrial articles, software or trade marks then please contact us.