Copyright

• Copyright in the UK


  The source of most UK law on copyright is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended by subsequent law.

  - Intellectual property law

  - Protects people's skills, creativity, labour

  - DOES NOT have to be registered
• What is protected?


  Copyright law controls who can commercially exploit literacy, musical, dramatic and artistic works, including journalism articles and photos, as well as sound recordings, film, broadcasts and typographical arrangements, however, no facts, news, ideas, or information are considered protected.
• What is infringement?


  Section 16 of the 1988 Act says it is an infringement of copyright to copy the whole or any substantial part of a work. A face may be a small part of a photograph but is probably more important, as regards its commercial value, than the rest of the picture.
• Who owns copyright in the UK?

  Under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, from July 31 1989 the author/photographer owns copyright, unless done in employment or employer owns copyright, or if assigned to someone else.

  Freelance or commercial photographer has copyright if work commissioned.

  If photo taken before Act the copyright owned by company or person who commissioned.
• Moral rights


  Section 85 of the 1988 Act gives a 'moral right', which in this section is a privacy right, to people who commission photographs or films for private and domestic purposes.

  - The right is that no copies of a photo or file commissioned for private and domestic purposes should be published, issued to or exhibited to the public without the commissioner's agreement.

  - Commissioners have this right even if they do not own the copyright of that work. This moral right means they can sue and recover damages from anyone who publishes such a photo or film.

  - A publisher who uses the photo or film in breach of copyright could also be sued by whoever owns the copyright.
• Social Media


  Publishing material such as a photo or footage or an extract of 'original' text copied from the internet infringes any copyright in the work, unless the copied element is not 'a substantial part', or the copyright owner consents, or a defence or exception applies.
• Copyright in Speeches


  Copyright exists in spoken words such as a public speech as soon as the speaker's words are recorded in some form, with or without permission.

  Section 58 of the 1988 Act says it is not infringement of copyright to use a record of all or part of a speaker's words for the purpose of reporting current events, or for the purpose of communicating to the public the whole or part of the work.

  - The record of the words, as recorded on tape or digitally, or in shorthand or longhand is a direct record of their utterance and is not taken from a previous record or broadcast.

  - The speaker did not forbid any note or recording being made of his/her words, and making the record of them did not infringe any pre-existing copyright.

  - The use made of the record of the words, or extracts from it, is not of a kind prohibited by the speaker before the record was made.

  - The record is used with the authority of the person who is lawfully in possession of it.
• Defences


  Fair dealing

  - Section 30 of the Act allows some publication of work protected by copyright, if the publication is 'for the purpose of reporting current events,' irrespective of whether the copyright owner consents to this.

  Defence of fair dealing for the purpose of criticism or review.

  Defence of fair dealing for use of quotation.

  DOES NOT COVER STILL PHOTOS

  DOES NOT COVER MATERIAL OBTAINED ILLEGALLY

  Public Interest

  - The public interest defence can protect publication of any copyrighted work, including a still photo, and all of a document, if the purpose is to expose it is an immoral work, or one damaging to public life, health, safety or the administration of justice, or as a work which incites immoral behaviour.

  Acquiescence

  - A copyright owner who does not complain for an extended period of time after becoming aware that a person or organisation has copied the work may be deemed by a judge to have implicitly agreed, acquiesced to the copying.
• Legal remedies for infringement of copyright

  Deliberate breach of copyright may be a criminal offence if there is a deliberate breach for gain in communication of work to the public.

  - A copyright holder who discovers that someone plans to infringe that right an get an injunction to stop the infringement.

  - If the infringement has happened, an injunction can ban any repetition. The copyright owner can also sue the infringer for damages, or for an account of profits to claim any profit made from the infringement.

  - The court can also order that infringing copies of the work must be handed o the copyright owner or destroyed.

  The damages awarded by a court may be higher if there has been a flagrant breach of copyright.