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Copyright - Basic Principles

What is copyright?

Copyright legislation, principally the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, is designed to protect the authors and publishers of:

(a) original literary (please see below ), dramatic, musical or artistic works

(b) sound recordings, films, broadcasts or cable programmes, and

(c) the typographical arrangement of published editions.

(Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, s1)

by giving them ‘exclusive rights’ in relation to the following actions:

(a) to copy the work

(b) to issue copies of the work to the public

(c) to perform, show or play the work in public

(d) to broadcast the work or include it in a cable programme service

(e) to make an adaptation of the work or do any of the above in relation to an adaptation

(Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, s16)

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PLEASE NOTE :

‘Literary’ works, as defined in the legislation, are taken to mean virtually anything in print, including fiction, non-fiction, academic books and journals, newspapers. Even computer programs are covered by this definition. 

Moreover, although information in itself (eg. facts and statistics) cannot be copyrighted, there is copyright in the typographical layout of published material (eg. how a bus timetable is arranged on the page) and, for example, in encyclopedia and directories as 'compilations' which are given copyright protection under legislation relating to databases.  

Copyright legislation, therefore, places legal limits on what an individual or organisation can copy, perform, show or display. See the Student's Guide, Lecturer's Guide or LLS Staff Guide for more information. Ultimately, if someone breaches these limits, they are liable to prosecution by the copyright holder, typically resulting in damages being awarded and/or an injunction against further infringement. If someone breaches copyright for commercial gain, they are liable to criminal prosecution.

On the other hand, for authors and publishers, the legislation protects their economic rights (ie. guarantees income from copying or performance of a work) and also the moral rights of the author (ie. ensuring the work is attributed to them, or that it is not presented in a derogatory manner).

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Who owns the copyright to a piece of work?

The author of any piece of work can be assumed to own the copyright UNLESS:

  • it was created in the course of their employment, in which case it will generally belong to the employer; (in contracts with freelance employees, however, the freelancer tends to retain copyright)
  • it has been published (eg. in a journal) in which case rights are usually transferred to the publisher, who also possess their own rights to the typographical layout of the published material

Consequently, it is unwise to assume that authors of books and journal articles own the copyright to their work; often the copyright holder is the publisher. It also worth noting that pieces of work may have several copyright holders, each with an interest in different aspects of the work (this is particularly the case in multimedia, where different copyrights may exist for sound, video, typographical arrangement, the computer software, and so on). 

Note also that copyright is transferable; it can be bought and sold (eg. from author to publisher). Moral rights are not transferable and an author who sells a work has a right to be acknowledged as such, for as long as the work is in copyright (nb. this does not apply if you originally create the work for an employer).

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How long does copyright protection last?

In the UK:

  • Literary, Dramatic, Musical or Artistic works - 70 years after the death of the author (or, if no-one knows who was the author, or a corporate publication, 70 years after publication); the bible is a notable exception - the King James version is in perpetual copyright;
  • Photographs (which are artistic works) are particularly complex due to successive pieces of legislation; if taken on or after 1st August 1989, the period of copyright is 70 years after the death of the photographer
  • Databases - database copyright, covering merely the database as a compilation of material, lasts for 15 years;however original material in the database retains its own literary copyright of 70 years after the death of the author, as does any computer software
  • Films and Video - 70 years after the death of the last surviving author (director, author of screenplay, author of dialogue, composer of music)
  • Sound recordings, tv and cable programmes and computer-generated works - 50 years after date of release (or date made, if never released)
  • Crown Copyright - 50 years from year first published; 125 years if unpublished
  • Parliamentary Copyright - 50 years from year first published, with some exceptions
  • Published editions - 25 years for the typography of published editions
  • Previously unpublished work with an expired copyright - 25 years from publication

Under UK law, you do not legally need to assert copyright with the © symbol, although you may do so. If copyright protection is sought under international law, it is needed in the following format ... © John Smith 1999.

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Why worry about copyright rules?

The 'moral' reasons for following copyright rules are:

  • copyright protection is essential to ensure that authors and publishers receive appropriate remuneration for their work
  • acknowledging source and ownership of materials is good academic practice

The pragmatic reasons for following copyright rules are:

  • breaches of copyright can lead to civil prosecution and fines and, in worst cases, criminal prosecution
  • licensing bodies, such as the CLA, make regular checks on institutions to ensure rules are being followed

Note also, that you can infringe copyright, and be prosecuted, not only for making illegal copies yourself, but also as an 'accessory' by providing resources or authorisation (eg. within a company) for someone else to illegally copy or perform material. 

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