Copyright arises automatically when an original work is created, protecting the expression of ideas but not the ideas themselves. Copyright protects original literary works, dramatic works, musical works, artistic works, sound recordings, films, broadcasts and typographical arrangements. As a general rule, the copyright owner is the creator of the work, though an employer owns copyright over works created by employees in the course of their employment. Copyright owners have both economic rights over how a work is used and moral rights to be credited as the author and object to derogatory treatment of a work. Infringement occurs when a substantial part of a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, or communicated without permission.

1. What is copyright?
Copyright is one of the main types of intellectual property - others include designs,
patents and trademarks. Intellectual property allows a person to own things they create
in the same way as something physical can be owned. It is the right to prevent others
copying or reproducing someone's work.
The main legislation dealing with copyright in the United Kingdom is the Copyright,
Design and Patents Act, 1988.

2. When does copyright arise?
Copyright arises automatically when a work that qualifies for protection is created. The
work must be original in that it needs to originate with the author who will have used
some judgment or skill to create the work - simply copying a work does not make it
original. There is no need in the UK to register copyright. When an idea is committed to
paper or another fixed form, it can be protected by copyright. It is the expression of the
idea that is protected and not the idea itself. People cannot be stopped from borrowing
an idea or producing something similar but can be stopped from copying.

3. What does copyright protect?
The main categories of works currently protected in the UK include:
• original literary works such as novels or poems, tables or lists and computer
programs
• original dramatic works such as dance or mime
• original musical works, i.e. the musical notes themselves
• original artistic works such as graphic works (paintings, drawings etc.), photographs
and sculptures
• sound recordings
• films
• broadcasts
• typographical arrangements (ie the layout or actual appearance) of published
editions

4. Who owns copyright?
As a general rule, the owner of the copyright is the person who created it, i.e. the
author. An author could be the writer, the composer, the artist, the producer or the
publisher or another creator depending on the type of work.
One important exception to this is when an employee creates a work in the course of
their employment in which case the copyright owner will be the employer.

5. What rights does a copyright owner have?
A copyright owner has both economic and moral rights. Economic rights cover acts that
only the copyright owner can do or authorise. 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 making it available online) or adapt it (e.g. making it into a play).
Moral rights include the right to be identified as the author, the right not to have a work
that they did not create falsely attributed to them and the right to object to the
derogatory treatment of the work. Moral rights are rights authors retain in their works
irrespective of who owns the economic rights - they can be waived, but not licensed or
assigned.

6. Copyright infringement
It is an infringement of copyright to do any of the following acts in relation to a substantial
part of a work protected by copyright without the consent or authorization of the
copyright owner: to copy it, issue copies of it to the public, rent or lend it to the public,
perform or show it in public or communicate it to the public.
As mentioned above, for infringement to take place it must involve a substantial part of
the work. Whether or not the part to be reproduced is substantial is subjective and the
quality, importance or significance of the extract are equally as important (some may say
more so) as the quantity of words or lines - using just four lines of a poem or even a four
word extract have been found to be substantial. The test is subjective. It is often said that
if something is worth copying, it is worth protecting.
Secondary infringement may occur if someone, without the permission of the copyright
owner, imports an infringing copy, possesses or deals with it or provides the means for
making it.