An introduction to Copyright

What Is Copyright?

Copyright is a form of intellectual property right, which protects novel and original creative works. Copyright comes into existence at the point that one of these creative works is produced and is an automatic right. What this means is that in most cases copyright works do not need to be registered for the copyright owner to claim their rights over the work.

Copyright ownership grants the individual certain rights over the work. These are split under two main headings. The first are moral rights which are retained by the creator of the work, even should copyright ownership be transferred. These typically grant the creator:

A right to attribution of authorship

A right to not have authorship falsely attributed; and,

A right of integrity of authorship (insofar as the work is respected and not subjected to derogatory treatment)

In addition to this the copyright owner has the capability to assert economic rights from their works. This gives the copyright owner the opportunity to make commercial gain from the works by licensing them to others, or indeed by selling the rights. In addition to this the copyright owner has the exclusive right to authorise or prohibit:

Reproduction of copyright works

Distribution of copyright works

Rental and lending of copyright works

Public performance of copyright works

Communication to the public of copyright works, and;

Adaptation of copyright works

Within businesses, employees who create copyright works automatically cede the economic right over the work to the employer – if it is created within the bounds of their normal working duties. Notably, freelancers retain economic rights over their creations in law, unless an assignment of copyright or intellectual property is put in place.

How Do I Use It?

Throughout the course of operating, businesses create copyright works in several ways, perhaps without even knowing it. Creative works can include things such as: websites, databases, business plans, written material, client lists, marketing plans, images, videos, audio – and much more. This intellectual property belongs to the business and should be considered a key asset within the business which should be actively valued and protected.

Some steps that a business can do in relation to their copyright includes:

Produce a copyright register. This would outline all of the key copyright works within the company, so that you have an explicit awareness of what they are and their value in underpinning business activity

Implement copyright best practices such as marking copyright work with tags such as “©” on visual works, and an audio tag on auditory ones. This will express to someone that comes into contact with your copyright works that they are considered as such – and that you are likely to enforce your rights

What Happens Internationally?

Internationally, copyright is, for the most part, covered worldwide by harmonisation in international laws. Specifically, something known as the Berne Convention. This means that countries will typically cooperate with each other in copyright cases that happen internationally. However, there are some things that you will want to keep in mind when deploying copyright assets internationally.

Whilst copyright is automatic, in the United States of America and China, it is encouraged that you register your key copyright works with the national IPOs. This will help you enforce a claim if any copyright infringement occurs as they IPOs will have the works registered in their databases

It is important to make sure that if you are partnering with a local entity, that you set an assignment of IP up so that any new IP including copyright material is assigned over to you. This will mean that any new intellectual property, that is created in the international venture continues to be part of your business

When entering an international market, you will share key information and resources with international partners. It will be important to make sure that it is clear to that this is your proprietary IP and subject to protection. You may seek to enforce this through non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements. You may also want to see to limit access to certain intangible assets, to make sure that only certain copyright material of yours is shared.

Case Study

A management consultancy business is setting up new offices and operations in Europe, the USA and China. In the US and China, they are partnering with existing companies and licensing these companies their brand. In doing so they share with the US and Chinese companies a host of information, including: training materials, lists of target businesses and contacts in the region and operations documents.

In China, a range of agreements are place with the licensed partners. As such, new IP created in the course of the new venture is fed back into the business and all copyright materials are held within the business effectively. In the US fewer agreements have been put in place. After some time, a competing business emerges from an ex-employee of the licensor’s entity. This emulates many of the strategies of the business, targeting similar clients and making use of similar methods. A copyright dispute arises and it becomes difficult to enforce the business’ copyright, insofar as the key materials were not registered at the USPTO.

Who are Virtuoso Legal?

Virtuoso Legal are an intellectual property specialist law firm, established in 2007 and based in London and Leeds. Virtuoso Legal have dedicated experts who are able to assist across the spectrum of intellectual property, from registering, commercialising and enforcing IPRs.