Copyright
Overview
Jane Lambert
Last updated 3 Feb 2006
Copyright consists of two sets of rights, namely "economic rights" and "moral rights." Economic rights protect the value added by independent literary or artistic creation. They are exclusive rights to copy, publish, rent, lend, perform, communicate to the public or adapt a work in which copyright subsists ("copyright work"). They come into being automatically upon the creation of such a work. Moral rights protect the integrity of certain types of copyright work and the reputation of their authors.
Copyright Works
These include
original
literary,
dramatic,
musical and
artistic
works. They also include
sound recordings,
films,
broadcast
and
typographical arrangements of published works.
Infringement
There are two kinds of copyright infringement, namely primary and
secondary infringement.
Primary infringement is direct
infringement - doing or authorizing an act restricted to the owner of
the copyright ("restricted act"). Secondary infringements is
indirect - selling or dealing in unlicensed copies or otherwise
facilitating a primary infringement. The big difference between the two
is that a mental element, such as actual knowledge or reason to believe
that copyright had been infringed in making the infringing copies, is
required for liability for secondary infringement.
Scope of Protection
It is important to appreciate that copyright protects value added. Thus,
it frequently happens that more than one copyright may subsist in a
single product. For instance, in an anthology of poems separate
copyrights subsist in each poem, commentary, illustration as well as the
compilation and arrangement of the poems and the layout and preparation
of the publication.
Source of Law
Copyright law in the UK is codified in the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988. The Act has been modified several times by subsequent
statutes and statutory instruments. The legislation is analysed
elsewhere on this website. The Act as amended implements HM government's
obligations under the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions and
TRIPs as well as under various EC directives.
Subsistence
A work does not have to be "copyrighted" or even registered in this
country. The right comes into being automatically on the creation of a
copyright work. The only formality is that the creator of the work ("the
author") has to be a
"qualifying person", that is to say a national
or resident of a state that provides reciprocal copyright protection to
the works of British nationals either under the Berne or Universal
Copyright Convention or some other agreement.
First Ownership of Copyright
The
author is usually the first owner unless he made the work in the
course of his employment in which case it will belong to his employer.
Works made by the Queen or by her officers or servants in the course of
their duties belongs to the Crown ("Crown copyright"). Special
provisions apply to works made by or under the direction of the House of
Lords or House of Commons ("Parliamentary copyright").
Term
This varies according to the nature of the work and whether it was Crown
or Parliamentary copyright. The term for
literary,
dramatic,
musical and
artistic works is the life of the
author plus 70 years. The term for
sound recordings is 50 years. In the case of
films, the term is 70 years
after the death of the principal director,
author of the screenplay,
author of the dialogue or composer of the
film music whoever is the last
to die. In the case of
broadcasts it is 50 years. In that of
typographical arrangements it is 25 years. Crown copyright subsists for
125 years for most types of copyright work.
Assignments and Licences
Title to copyright can be transferred by assignment. Permitting things that would otherwise infringe copyright is known as licensing. Licences may be granted to a group of persons, to one person exclusively or to one person other than the licensor. Such licences are known respectively as non-exclusive, exclusive and sole licences.
Moral Rights
These are rights conferred on authors of most
literary,
dramatic,
musical or
artistic works and on directors of
films. They include the
right of paternity (that is to say, the right to be identified as
author
or director provided the right is asserted by a written instruments to
that effect signed by the
author or a statement in an assignment of
copyright), the right of integrity (the right to object to derogatory
treatment of a work) and the right against false attribution (the right
not to have a
literary,
dramatic, musical or
artistic work falsely
attributed). Persons who commission photographs or
films for domestic
purposes are entitled to object to publication, exhibition or
broadcasting of the work. Moral rights are discussed in detail elsewhere
on this site.
Related Rights
These include database, unregistered design and publication rights and
rights in performances, all of which are discussed elsewhere.
Enforcement
An action for the infringement of copyright, database right or design
right must be brought in the Chancery Division of the High Court or any
county court in England and Wales to which a Chancery District Registry
is attached. Like any other dispute, there is no reason why the parties
should not refer the issue to arbitration and the Patents County Court
maintains an arbitration panel for that purpose.
