What Is the Copyright Law in England?
There is no process or fee to have something copyrighted in England. Copyright is a method showing authorship which entitles the author to certain rights. Management of copyrights in England falls under the authority of the Intellectual Property Office. The IPO also manages patents and registered designs.
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History
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Before the invention of printing in the 15th century, there was no method of copyrighting material. Reproduction of written works was done by hand and literacy was largely limited to the upper class. Disputes over authorship were settled by common law until the passing of the Statute of Anne in 1709. That gave copyrights the protection of law as passed by Parliament. There have been numerous laws passed in the centuries since, including the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act of 1988.
Copyrightable
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To be copyrighted, a work must be original. The Intellectual Property Office defines original as something that is “the result of independent creative effort.” The types of work that can be copyrighted include literary works, music, live theatrical performances, musical compositions and artistic works such as photographs. Computer software can be considered a written work for copyright purposes. Even television and movie productions may be copyrighted; they may actually hold more than one copyright--for the script and any original music, for instance.
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Automatic Right
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No legal process is required to copyright an original piece of work. The creation of work that is copyrightable and the preservation of that work, in writing for instance, are considered enough for the copyright to be enforceable. This is known as automatic right. The Intellectual Property Office suggests the creator send the work to himself through the mail. The postmark date on the unopened envelope will act as proof of when the work was copyrighted. It is also advisable to mark the material with the © symbol and list the author’s name and the date.
Time Frame
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For an original dramatic, literary or artistic work, the term of the copyright is “for the life of the creator plus 70 years from the end of the year in which he/she died,” according to the IPO. Copyrights for films last 70 years past the year in which the death of the last surviving composer of original music, writer of the screenplay or principal directors occurs. In cases of copyrighted material with joint creators, the term is calculated based on the death of the last surviving creator.
Benefits
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Copyrighting an original work bestows several benefits upon the owner. The owner may retain ownership, but license it out for use by others. It is also possible to sell the copyright but retain the moral rights. Moral rights are the rights of the author to be identified as such. Moral rights also allow the author to object to unfavorable treatment of the copyrighted material. Economic rights give the owner the ability to make profit from the use of his copyrighted work by granting permission to others to use it. Copyrighted material being copied or used without permission is infringement of the copyright.
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References
- Photo Credit film image by saied shahinkiya from Fotolia.com
