Research
This article introduces the basics of copyright law and discusses how copyright can be effectively used by all businesses as part of their IP strategy. Later articles will explore copyright in greater depth as well as introduce other areas of IP for entrepreneurs and investors.
Copyright is a property right that covers certain types of “works”, including most creative and artistic works such as paintings, sculpture, literature, films, television, and music. Copyright can also include broadcasts, typographical layouts, sound recordings, and databases (many of these are sometime known as neighbouring rights).
Copyright operates automatically and so does not require registration or application (unlike patents, trade marks, or other IP rights). Once you create a work that meets the legal requirements for having a copyright, you instantly have one. The relatively low legal threshold for getting a copyright means that you already hold many copyrights over work you’ve produced: past school papers, letters and emails to friends and family, and even doodles in the margins of handouts.
Copyright grants a monopoly to the rights holder over doing certain acts with the work, including to:
1. Reproduce the work (make copies);
2. Distribute the work to the public;
3. Rent or lend the work to the public;
4. Publicly perform the work;
5. Broadcast the work or include it in a cable television service; and
6. Adapt the work or to do any of the above with an adaptation of the work.
The rights owner of a copyrighted work can thus prohibit others from doing any of the above acts, unless an exception or limitation to copyright applies (such as fair dealing / fair use).
Any use of the work in ways not covered by an exception requires, usually in the form of a written licence, which is a legal document outlining what can and can’t be done with the work.
As a general rule copyright does not protect ideas – that is the domain of patents – but rather the “expressions of ideas”. Like all general rules it helps in clarifying the boundaries of copyright but doesn’t necessarily apply or apply in the same way to all situations.
As a practical example however, more than one person can have the idea of setting a detective story in Edinburgh — just because two (or more!) people have the same general idea for a story doesn’t make it copyright infringement.
As the idea gets paired with other ideas, say making it a male detective, who works homicide, and is set in modern times, you start to get closer and closer to a much more specific expression of the idea of an Edinburgh detective story. This level (a modern male homicide detective in Edinburgh) is still pretty general, but if you add in that he’s Scottish, with an English female partner, and that he smokes, and so on until you get to the level of detail that the detective’s name is Rebus and he likes to drink Deuchars IPA at the Oxford Bar, then you get to the point where you clearly have Ian Rankin’s expression in the Inspector Rebus series of novels.
The concept that at one end is a general “idea” and the other is a detailed “expression of that idea” gets abbreviated into the “idea/expression dichotomy”. But as you can see it isn’t a clear dichotomy — shades of grey form in between the two.
Copyright term can be confusing and almost always requires some research to clearly identify whether or not a work is out of copyright, and if it is in copyright, who holds the current rights and for how long. Copyright term also can vary on the type of right and type of copyrighted work, but for example in the UK, Europe, and the United States most of the core rights over literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works last for the life of the author plus 70 years.
Term changes from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and based on the exact rights at issue, and you should seek professional advice or assistance on the rights clearance process.
It is important to note that because of international treaty obligations, work produced here in the UK is likely automatically have copyright in most jurisdictions throughout the world, and will almost certainly have copyright throughout the EU and in places such as Australia, Canada, and the United States. Contrast copyright with patents or trade marks, where you can get protection only after registration, which must be applied for on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis.
The opposite is also true, so when examining resources produced in other jurisdictions, they will have a UK copyright as well.
Some businesses, such as in the film or publishing industry, create, buy, and sell copyrighted material as their core commercial activity and so this IP right plays an obvious role. But copyright doesn’t just cover films and books: It also covers technical manuals, marketing materials, internal company emails, and training handbooks. Copyright can thus play a key role in the IP strategy in many other businesses, for example:
Like all areas of IP, it is important to think about copyright in terms of being both a producer and consumer and manage it effectively to both build value and to effectively limit and manage risk.
This article by ipVA is part of a series by ipVA on the basics of IP and business known as the Intangible Handbook. ipVA provides IP strategy services and products that help businesses and investors better understand and manage IP. For more, see the rest of our site or get in contact.