Copyright -
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16 February 2010
Copyright gives the author, designer or creator of a work the
exclusive right to control the way his or her work is used or exploited.
Copyright will automatically protect the work as soon as it is recorded, i.e.
either in writing or in any other way.
Copyright can protect:
- literary works, including novels, instruction manuals,
computer programs, song lyrics and newspaper articles;
- dramatic works, including dance or mime;
- musical works;
- artistic works, including paintings, engravings, photographs,
sculptures, collages, architecture, technical drawings, diagrams, maps and
logos;
- layouts or typographical arrangements used to publish a work;
- recordings of a work, including sound and film; and
- broadcasts of a work.
The owner of a work protected by copyright can indicate this to
others by placing the 'c' copyright symbol on their work, along with the name of
the owner of the work and the date that the work was created.
Copyright owners have the exclusive right to carry out certain
acts in relation to their work, such as copying the work, issuing copies of the
work to the public, performing, showing or playing the work and making
adaptations or translations of the work.
Copyright owners can also prevent others communicating a work to
the public by electronic transmission and making available to the public a
recording of a performance by electronic transmission, e.g. by putting it on a
website.
A third party can only carry out the above acts with the
copyright owner's permission.
For further information please contact Corinne Day via
email on corinne.day@lawdit.co.uk
About the Author
Lawdit Solicitors offer services and
advice for litigation, commercial contracts, Intellectual Property and IT legal
agreements. We are experts in commercial law with a heavy emphasis on
Intellectual Property, Internet and e-commerce law. Lawdit is a member of the
International Trademark Association, the Solicitors' Association of Higher Court
Advocates and we are the appointed Solicitors to the largest webdesign
association in the world, the United Kingdom Website Designers Association.
