My copyright is being infringed
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2 October 2009
Copyright protects the skill labour and effort in your work.
Copyright is a form of property and if your work is copied then you can enforce
your rights but how?
Take a literary work; i.e. a book this is considered to be a
literary work, if someone copies the text, or your company brochure, your
website and you can prove you are the owner of the work then you will need to
write to this person setting out that you are the owner of the work. You will
refer to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 ( as Amended) and assert
your ownership. You need to be a qualifying person i.e. someone based in the UK
and enclose details of your work and produce evidence of copying. The letter (
known as a cease and desist letter) will demand the infringer undertake certain
immediate steps, for example, removal of the offending text and payment of
damages. Allow the person 14 days to do so if they fail to acknowledge the
letter or refuse to remove then you will need to issue a claim in court for
copyright infringement. Quite simple.
Michael Coyle is a Solicitor Advocate and can be located at
michael.coyle@lawdit.co.uk
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.
