Copyright Issues

g jones · 05-05-2006, 17:46

The UK Patent Office Website

What is Copyright?

Before you go any further you need to know that there is no official register for copyright. It is an unregistered right (unlike patents, registered designs or trade marks). So, there is no official action to take, (no application to make, forms to fill in or fees to pay). Copyright comes into effect immediately, as soon as something that can be protected is created and "fixed" in some way, eg on paper, on film, via sound recording, as an electronic record on the internet, etc.

It is a good idea for you to mark your copyright work with the copyright symbol © followed by your name and the date, to warn others against copying it, but it is not legally necessary in the UK.

The type of works that copyright protects are:

original literary works, e.g. novels, instruction manuals, computer programs, lyrics for songs, articles in newspapers, some types of databases, but not names or titles (see Trade Marks pages for information about registered and unregistered trade marks);

original dramatic works, including works of dance or mime;

original musical works;

original artistic works, e.g. paintings, engravings, photographs, sculptures, collages, works of architecture, technical drawings, diagrams, maps, logos;

published editions of works, i.e. the typographical arrangement of a publication;

sound recordings, which may be recordings on any medium, e.g. tape or compact disc, and may be recordings of other copyright works, e.g. musical or literary;

films, including videos; and broadcasts.

So the above works are protected by copyright, regardless of the medium in which they exist and this includes the internet.

jambutty · 05-05-2006, 17:53

Just to add to that you cannot copyright a book title or the title of a song or the tile of anything.

entwisi · 05-05-2006, 17:54

And teh point of the post Graham?

Madhatter · 05-05-2006, 18:26

This has come up several times on our local sites, which seem to be having some sort of battle, then we've got the bookguide which seems hell bent on slagging the town off. one site used a paragraph from a letter that had been written to the book guide, and then accusations started flying.

I know sites can licence material under gnu ? wiki uses it, but, What is fair use all about?

Less · 05-05-2006, 20:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by entwisi

And teh point of the post Graham?

I agree with entwisi the point of the post is?
The people that feel a need to protect their work such as photographs etc, already do so the rest of us don't need to go so deep.

© Less Westwood 2006

SPUGGIE J · 05-05-2006, 20:33

Less better put a copyright on you as you are definately unique.

Gayle · 05-05-2006, 20:39

Less doesn't need to put a copyright on himself - who in their right mind is going to copy him?

SPUGGIE J · 05-05-2006, 21:33

There could be someone out there willing to give it a try.

Gayle · 05-05-2006, 21:33

That would be frightening - two of them running around out there!

Gayle · 05-05-2006, 21:36

Sorry Graham, bit of a thread wander there. Interesting stuff you posted.

Less · 06-05-2006, 00:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gayle

That would be frightening - two of them running around out there!

So I must be improving in your eyes Gayle at one time you used to think just one of me was frightening.

Feel free to use the image below in any way you see fit, I won't worry about copyright,
(just keeping the post on topic).

Mick · 06-05-2006, 04:21

Here Graham check this link

http://www.is4profit.com/busadvice/c...acts/index.htm

http://www.is4profit.com/busadvice/c...t_internet.htm

g jones · 06-05-2006, 07:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by mick

Here Graham check this link

http://www.is4profit.com/busadvice/c...acts/index.htm

http://www.is4profit.com/busadvice/c...t_internet.htm

I think your thinking what I am thinking Mick.

Thanks for the link.

Neil · 13-11-2006, 19:21

Graham, maybe you could let us now how you got on with your copyright issue. I am interested if you got your pound of flesh. This link is sort of relevant, well at least the title is

Billcat · 13-11-2006, 20:39

While in the UK, copyright may be unregistered, in the USA most folks who wish to have an enforceable copyright do register their copyright. While it is not a requirement of law to register copyrights in order to protect one's ownership rights, having your work registered does make matters a bit easier should it come to the need to legally enforce your rights.