This chapter analyses how the law evaluates authorship of copyright works. It is crucial to distinguish between authorship and ownership of copyright works, as the two do not necessarily coincide. The reason for this is that an author may decide to license or assign the ownership of the work to a third party, such as a publisher, in exchange for money, i.e. royalties. In such case, the author would still be classed as the author of the work, but would no longer own the economic rights to control the ‘restricted acts’. Authorship and ownership of copyright works is even more complicated in the case of works that are authored and owned jointly. The definition of a work of joint authorship is very precise — it must not be possible to identify each author's respective contribution. The rights of joint-owners are set out in s. 173(2) CDPA.
Chapter
This chapter discusses exceptions and limitations to the rights of the copyright owner. Copyright law establishes many such exceptions and limitations, listed in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) as the ‘permitted acts’. These acts can be carried out in relation to the copyright work without the owner’s permission or, in some cases, can be performed subject to terms and conditions specified by the statute rather than by the copyright owner. The chapter discusses the influence of the international framework and EU Directives on exceptions and limitations. It analyses the ‘permitted acts’ and discusses the freedoms afforded through them to users of protected works in the UK, and also briefly considers how far they may be set aside by contractual provision.
Chapter
This chapter discusses unregistered design protection which confers its own form of protection for a more limited period than is the case for other IP rights. The chapter examines the two main forms of unregistered design right: the UK unregistered design right established by Part III of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; and the Community unregistered design right. While Community unregistered design right is closely connected to the scheme of registered design law discussed in Chapter 8, UK unregistered design right is a fully independent and distinct form of unregistered protection for designs which is unique to the UK and poses its own particular challenges. The chapter also considers in more detail the evolving and complex interaction of design protection and copyright including recent UK legislative developments.
Chapter
This chapter examines the subsistence of copyright. Subsistence is a central requirement for copyright protection — unless it is established that copyright subsists in one's work, one cannot make a viable claim that someone else has used one's work without permission. Section 1 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) declares that copyright is a property right which subsists in an exhaustive, or closed, list of eight different categories of ‘work’: original literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic works; sound recordings, films, or broadcasts; and the typographical arrangement of published editions. Originality is the paramount criterion of copyright protection. For this reason, there are a great many cases that consider how to define the level of originality required for a piece of literature, drama, music, or art to be protected.
Chapter
This chapter focuses on the two types of copyright infringement within the CDPA 1988: primary infringement and secondary infringement. In primary infringement, the defendants are directly involved in copying, performing, and issuing to the public the copyright work, whereas secondary infringement involves people who deal with infringing copies, or facilitate such copying or other activities that are restricted by copyright. Besides this difference that has to do with the scope of rights, there is also difference on the mental element. Unlike primary infringement that does not require knowledge or intention to infringe on the part of the alleged infringer and is hence subject to strict liability, secondary infringement occurs where the defendant knew or had reason to believe that activities in question are wrongful. This is assessed on the basis of an objective test, namely what matters is what a reasonable person would have thought in the relevant circumstances.
Chapter
This chapter considers the ‘economic rights’ the copyright owner enjoys while copyright protection endures. These are the rights that the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) calls ‘acts restricted by copyright’, which may be exploited by transferring them to others or licensing others to use them for a price. The chapter discusses the rights flowing from ownership of copyright and the international framework that underpins them, noting the influence upon UK law of a number of EU Directives. It identifies the general principles pertaining to infringement of economic rights, before turning to the detailed rules on each economic right: to make copies, issue copies to the public; rent or lend commercially to the public; perform, show, or play in public; communication to the public; and make adaptations. It discusses authorisation of infringement (accessory liability) in relation to these economic rights, and finally considers secondary infringement of copyright.
Chapter
This chapter deals with copyright in computer programs and databases for which the EU Software and Database Directives set special rules, which are implemented in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA). In addition, it deals with database right, also created by the Directive, which is implemented by the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997. There are particular defences to copyright infringement in relation to computer programs that allow decompilation and the development of compatible software. Database right is intended to protect the investment in gathering the data into a database; it does not protect data that is created by the database owner. Database right protects against the extraction or re-utilization of the contents of the database for a period of 15 years.
Chapter
This chapter focuses on performers’ rights, which give musicians, singers, actors, dancers, and variety performers rights to prevent or give permission for the recording or broadcasting of their live performances and subsequent commercial exploitation of those recordings. Performers’ rights are important for broadcasters and record and film companies which hire performers: they must ensure that the performers give all the necessary permissions in their contracts or the project will not be able to proceed. The rights last for 50 years, or 70 years for EU musicians. The development of sound recording and movie technology meant that it was not necessary for everyone to hire the services of a performer in order to enjoy their performance and this triggered the development of performers’ rights. There are legal provisions protecting some performers against signing away all their rights in these contracts. Performers’ rights have been harmonized by the European Union.
Chapter
This chapter first examines the subject matter in which copyright subsists and the criteria for copyright protection as set out in the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988). This centres on the concept of the ‘protected work’ and makes use of a distinction between what are sometimes known as ‘author works’ (literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and film works) and ‘media works’ (typographical arrangements, sound recordings, broadcasts, and adaptations). It then considers the identification of the first owner of copyright when it comes into existence. It discusses the concept of joint authorship and ownership of copyright works when created in the course of employment. The final section discusses the duration of copyright.
Chapter
There are two different types of rights labelled as ‘moral rights’ in the CDPA: rights for authors referred to as the rights of paternity and integrity; and other rights of all individuals: the right not to be falsely attributed as author of a work; and a right of privacy in privately commissioned photographs and films. These protect non-commercial aspects of the relationship between authors and their works. Thus, they cannot be assigned, and may be enforced even after the author has assigned or licensed their economic rights, and even against the owner or licensee. The rights last as long as copyright does and pass to the author’s beneficiaries on death. Different countries have implemented the Berne rights in different ways. Authors’ moral rights were introduced in 1988 to implement the Berne Convention; the UK does not protect them as fully as other countries, particularly civil law countries.
