CMU:DIY

Tips: Kinds of copyright

By | Published on Wednesday 10 October 2012

Copyright

CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke provides an overview of the different kinds of copyright.

UK copyright law identifies eight kinds of creative ‘works’ that enjoy copyright protection, and anyone wanting to protect their copyrights must first prove that the work they own fits under one of these eight categories. The music business is traditionally concerned with three of these categories – literary works (which covers lyrics), musical works (which covers the musical score) and sound recordings.

Though artists and music companies often own other kinds of copyright too, and may be increasingly looking to monetise these other works as the money to be made from traditional record sales declines. So it’s worth being aware of what these other copyrights are – and also who owns them by default, as often the creation of these periphery works involves third parties (eg writers, photographers, filmmakers, choreographers), and unless a contract says otherwise they might have ownership of the other works you are creating, even if you are paying for them.

It’s also worth noting that the length of the copyright term (remember, all copyrights run out eventually) varies depending on the type of work, as outlined below.

So, the eight kinds of creative work…

1. Literary works. This is basically the written word, and therefore of all the categories it covers the most bases. Books, poetry, lyrics, newspaper and magazine articles, blog posts, even headlines, are all covered here, provided they have been published. Parliament even included computer code and databases in this group. Interestingly, slogans aren’t covered here, but can and should be trademarked.

By default, the copyright in literary works is owned by the writer, unless they are written by an employee as part of their job, in which case it is owned by the employer. This does not apply to freelance contractors, so if you hire a writer to write some biogs or blog posts for you, and you want to own the copyright, then you need a contract that states that fact (ie the copyright is ‘assigned’ to you).

One ramification of this that people often forget is that if you make copies of newspaper or magazine articles and distribute them in a commercial context, technically you need a licence from the copyright owner, which will usually be the newspaper or magazine’s publisher. And that includes if a PR agency or department distributes copies of press cuttings to clients or management – and even if what they distribute is just a list of headlines and links (there’s copyright in headlines too remember). Most of the newspapers are represented by the Newspaper Licensing Agency in this regard.

Literary copyrights last for the life of the creator plus 70 years. If there is more than one creator, the 70 years start ticking when the last person dies.

2. Dramatic works. This covers scripts and screenplays, and protects stage directions as much as the words actors speak. Choreography is also protected here, provided it is recorded in some way (either on video or using a recognised dance notation system). The writer or choreographer owns the copyright unless a contract says otherwise.

Dramatic copyrights last life plus 70 years, as literary.

3. Musical works. Covers musical compositions, obviously. But note that lyrics are counted as literary works, so the lyrics and music in a song are treated as two different works, each covered by a different copyright. The composer owns the copyright here unless a contract says otherwise.

Musical copyrights last life plus 70 years, as literary.

4. Artistic works. This is for original works of art, but crucially covers photography too. The artist or photographer owns the copyright here by default, unless they are an employee or a contract says otherwise. If you have an original logo image created for your artist or label, technically you could protect it under copyright as an artistic work, though it would be advisable to trademark the logo too.

Artistic copyrights last life plus 70 years, as literary.

5. Sound recordings. Obviously this is the other important copyright for the music industry! Try defining a sound recording in words. It’s hard, but the 1988 Copyright Act goes to some length trying to do it. But either way, we all know what this means. By default whoever pays for a sound recording to be made (traditionally the record label) owns the copyright here. So if one band member pays for studio time on their credit card, or a studio owner lets you use their facility for free, make sure there’s a written agreement as to who owns the copyrights in the recordings made, because both those people could claim to be the owner under the Act.

The sound recording copyright lasts for 70 years after release (it was recently extended from 50 years) – the term isn’t linked to the lives of any of the artists involved.

6. Films. Another straightforward one, if again quite hard to define in words. By default the film copyright is shared between the main commercial and creative players – so principal producer and principal director.

The term is the life of the default owners plus 70 years.

7. Broadcasts. This is the copyright in broadcasts. The act defines broadcasts in quite specific terms, to cover terrestrial, satellite and cable broadcasting networks. However, this does not include webcasting. Such a thing hadn’t even been conceived when the Act was written.

Broadcast copyrights last 50 years, though remember other copyrights will almost certainly exist in the content being broadcast (eg literary, dramatic, musical, film) which will last longer. The default owner is the broadcaster.

8. Typographical arrangements. This is basically graphic design, so the way a page is laid out. Therefore, if you take a page of a newspaper, there is a copyright in the words (literary) and the pictures (artistic), but also the way the page has been set out.

These copyrights last for 25 years and are owned by the publisher.

Chris offers more insights on music rights through the CMU Insights training courses. Click here for more information. 



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