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Copyright aims to protect people and organisations that produce creative and artistic work. This means that an author can claim copyright protection for his/her books or a song writer can protect his/her songs.

In order to claim copyright it is essential that the work you are trying to protect is completely your own. There is no legal requirement to place the copyright symbol on your work as copyright law protects your work so long as you can prove ownership. However, it is a good idea to use the symbol © and include a date as this makes it obvious to anyone viewing your work that you do not want it copied or reproduced without your permission. There is no official copyright registration scheme in the UK and many other countries.

Copyright law covers many areas including;
Literature,
Drama
Music,
Art,
Layouts,
Recordings,
Broadcasts

EXAMPLE ONE: An artist who spends many hours, days and months creating a unique painting expects his her work not to be copied and sold by anyone who has not asked for permission. The artist shown below is painting his favourite car rather like the artist of old painted famous race horses and mansions. The artist expects to sell his painting for a rather large amount of money because he is famous and fellow artists regard his work as a masterpiece.

One way of proving ownership of your own work is to seal it in an envelop and send it through the post to your own address. As normal, the date of postage will be stamped on the envelop. This is proof of ownership as long as the envelop is not opened.

EXAMPLE TWO: A website designer spends months developing an educational website. The site includes impressive animations, graphics and lots of information for people to use. However, a copyright statement says that the work can be printed out and used BUT it must not be altered in anyway.

Copyright infringement is the legal term used when someone or a company breaks the law by using the work belonging to someone else, without permission.

Use the internet to research the term ‘copyright infringement’. In the space below write about a real life case of copyright infringement.