C O P Y R I G H T

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." - Oscar Wilde (Goodreads.com, 2018)

As a student’s we have tons of data available literally at our fingertips, which makes project research and paper writing easier than they've ever been before.

But it also means we must be more aware of copyright rules in order to avoid violating them.

The most important thing to do first  is to understand what copyright is, and how it works.

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WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?

Copyright is one of the main types of intellectual property. It allows the copyright owner to protect against others copying or reproducing their work. (Bbc.co.uk, 2018)

Intellectual property gives a person ownership over the things they create, the same way as something physical can be owned.

Copyright arises automatically when a work that qualifies for protection is created. The work must be original, meaning it needs to originate with the author, who will have used some judgement or skill in its creation.(Gov.uk, 2018)

The main works currently protected by copyright in the UK include:

·       Original literary works (such as novels, poems, tables, lists, and computer programmes)

·       Original dramatic works

·       Original musical works (i.e. the musical notes themselves)

·       Original artistic works

·       Sound recordings

·       Films

·       Broadcasts

·       Typographical arrangements (i.e. the layout or actual appearance) of published editions

In general, the author or creator of the work owns the copyright.

However, copyright for work created by an employee during the course of their employment is owned by the employer.

(Cla.co.uk, 2018)

What rights does copyright give?

As the author or creator of the work, you have economic and moral rights over it and its use.(Gov.uk, 2018)

Economic rights mean only the copyright owner can do or authorise certain acts. These include the right to copy the work, distribute copies of it, rent or lend it, perform or show it, communicate it to the public (including online), or adapt it (for example, a book adapted into a play). Economic rights may be licensed or assigned to another, just like other forms of property.(Gov.uk, 2018)

Moral rights include the right to be identified (or not identified) as the author, not to have work they didn’t create falsely attributed to them, and to object to derogatory treatment of the work. The author owns the moral rights regardless of who owns the economic rights to the work. They can be waived, but not licensed or assigned.(Gov.uk, 2018)

What copyright does not protect?

• materials not creative enough to be protected
• idea / expression dichotomy
• 
  
• work that is copied as fair use

 

(Cla.co.uk, 2018)
 Who Owns the Copyright?

The person or people who create an original work own the copyright. If you write a song, you own the copyright. If you collaborate with one other person to write a play, you both own the copyright. (Stim, 2018)

However, there is an exception to this rule, and it applies to what are called "works made for hire." If you are an employee of a company, and you create something -- an e-book or a computer program -- as part of your employment with that company (i.e., the work is performed as part of your job duties), these are works made for hire, and the company owns the copyright. (Stim, 2018)

By the same token, if you're a freelance writer, and someone contracts you to write a blog post for them, and they pay you for that blog post, then the post is a work made for hire, and the blog publisher owns the copyright to that content. (Stim, 2018)

Copyright ownership will most often default to the person or organization that pays you to create content for them. (Stim, 2018)

In addition, if the company or entity for which you produced a creative work goes out of business, the copyright retention rules may remain in place. 

Original Authors

If you write a poem at the age of 20, it is immediately protected by copyright, and remains so for the duration of your lifetime.

Example: If you pass away at the age of 100, that poem will have been protected for 80 years, and the copyright will remain in effect for another 70 years after your death. 

The copyright will be in effect for a total of 150 years. If you collaborate with two other people to create a new computer program, then the copyright is in effect throughout the life of the creator who lives the longest, and remains in effect for 70 years beyond the date of that person's death.

Purchasers

It is possible to sell, also referred to as assign or transfer copyrights to others. This is how authors get their books published; they sell the rights to a publishing house. That publishing house then owns the copyright for that book. Corporate copyright ownership of works created after 2002 lasts longer than original author ownership; ”95 years after publication, or 120 years after creation, whichever expires first.

Heirs

It is possible to bequeath creative works and their copyrights to people other than the original authors. For example, if you write a book, you can leave that book and its unsold rights to your heirs. If you do not specify in your will to whom you are leaving your creative works, they will most likely automatically pass to your heirs, but it depends on your state's intestate (without a will) rules.

The point of all this is, never assume that because it's been 70 years or more since the original creator of any work has passed away, their work is now freely available for your use.


https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-rights-granted-by-copyright
https://www.whoishostingthis.com/resources/student-copyright/

https://www.cla.co.uk/what-is-copyright
https://ucomm.wsu.edu/what-copyright-does-not-protect/


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Bbc.co.uk. (2018). BBC - What is Copyright? - Copyright. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/copyrightaware/what-is [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].

Cla.co.uk. (2018). What is Copyright? | Copyright Licensing Agency. [online] Available at: https://www.cla.co.uk/what-is-copyright [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].

Goodreads.com. (2018). A quote by Oscar Wilde. [online] Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/19884-be-yourself-everyone-else-is-already-taken [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].

Gov.uk. (2018). The rights granted by copyright - GOV.UK. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-rights-granted-by-copyright [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].

Stim, R. (2018). Copyright Ownership: Who Owns What?. [online] Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center. Available at: https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/faqs/copyright-ownership/ [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].