What does copyright cover?
You can claim copyright if your business produces original:
- literary works, including books, webpages, computer programs and instruction manuals
- artistic work, including technical drawings, photographs, diagrams and maps
- dramatic and musical works, including sound recordings
- films, videos and broadcasts, including those on cable and satellite
- databases, whether paper or electronic
Copyright also covers the typographical arrangement or layout of publications.
But you can't claim copyright for:
- names, titles, slogans or phrases - though you might be able to register these as a trade mark
- products or industrial processes - though these may have design right or be eligible for patent protection
- ideas
Your business holds copyright for work produced by your employees, but remember that contractors hold copyright on any work they create for your organisation unless you agree otherwise.
Copyright covers every medium in which a work exists, including the Internet.
Unlike some other forms of intellectual property, copyright in the UK doesn't require registration. It's automatic once your work is "fixed" - written down or recorded, for example.
How long copyright lasts
The period of copyright protection could vary according to the type of copyrighted work, when it was created or first performed and where the copyright originated. In general, copyright protection for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works lasts until 70 years after the death of the creator. Copyright in sound recordings, broadcasts and cable programmes lasts 50 years. Copyright for the typographical arrangement of publications lasts for 25 years.
Moral rights
As well as economic control, most copyright holders also hold moral rights to their work. Moral rights mean you:
Authors of computer programs or material to be used in newspapers, magazines or in reference works can't claim moral right on their copyright work.
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