{"id":1203,"date":"2022-01-04T05:21:48","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T05:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uk.legalvision.com.au\/?p=1203"},"modified":"2024-05-28T05:24:40","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T04:24:40","slug":"copyright-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/intellectual-property\/copyright-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"Copyright Protection in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even if your business does not engage in creative work, you have likely still created some creative works in the course of business. For example, your business\u2019s logo, blog articles, catalogue descriptions, photographs and more all constitute creative elements. As such, you can protect them with intellectual property protections<\/a>. In this article, we will focus on copyright protection. This will help you understand how copyright protection works in the UK and how you can protect these creative elements for your business.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Copyright?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Copyright protects the expression of ideas. It applies to literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works. In the context of your business, this could look like marketing material that you write, designs that you draw up or photographs that you take. In short, if you had an idea and recorded that idea somehow, it is likely eligible for copyright protection.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to note that ideas themselves<\/a><\/span> are not eligible for protection. The material recording of the idea is what copyright protects. For example, suppose you have an idea for a book. You do not have copyright protection over the idea for your book, and other writers can also use that idea in their own work.  However, they cannot use the actual words you type or substantially copy them. They constitute the material expression of your idea, and that has copyright protection. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright applies when you document your idea, so you do not need to apply for it with any government body to enjoy protection. However, you need to keep a record of when you recorded your idea, so you know the date of when your copyright protection began. For example, if you type a document on your computer, you \u2018record\u2019 it as soon as you save that document.  If you are handwriting something, it is documented as soon as you have finished writing.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can use the copyright symbol<\/a> to show that your work is copyright-protected and that you own the rights to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does the Work Need To Be Entirely My Own?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another essential requirement is that copyright only applies to your original creations based on your expression of an idea. You cannot use someone else\u2019s expression of that same idea and then claim copyright over all of what you then create.  This is called a \u2018derivative\u2019 work. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For example, rap singer Vanilla Ice\u2019s song \u2018Ice Ice Baby\u2019 has a bass-line that sounds similar to \u2018Under Pressure\u2019 by Queen and David Bowie, the copyright owner. This was subject to a copyright dispute. Ice Ice Baby may be considered \u2018derivative\u2019 of Under Pressure, because it copies part of Queen\u2019s song.  Vanilla Ice can only claim copyright on the wholly original elements of his song. For example, this includes the lyrics he wrote, as none of those lyrics appear in the original Queen song.  <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you use another person\u2019s work without permission, you infringe their copyright.  Even if you had permission to use their material, you could only claim your own copyright ownership on the parts of your work that were your original contribution.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Suppose that you are a health and lifestyle small business owner, and you are seeking inspiration for a new blog article. You see a blog article written by one of your competitors about healthy ways to detox.  Writing a blog article yourself about this subject is allowed, since \u2018healthy ways to detox\u2019 is just an idea.  However, if you copied the structure, graphics and substantial wording of the other blogger\u2019s post, you would be infringing their copyright. This is because you are copying their expression of the idea of \u2018healthy ways to detox\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

How Long Does Copyright Protection Last in the UK?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The length of your copyright protection depends on the type of work. For literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, copyright protection lasts for the author’s entire life and 70 years afterwards.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you create a sound recording, copyright protection lasts 50 years from when you make the recording. However, if you publish the recording, or make it available to the public somehow, then copyright protection will last for 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which you make it available.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Continue reading this article below the form\n <\/i>\n<\/a>\n

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