How you might have a copyright claim

Copyright is a statutory right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. In order to have a copyright claim you would first need to establish that you have a type of work that copyright can attach to. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 provides categories in which works must fall into in order to be protected by copyright. These are:

Original literary works

A literary work could be a poem, novel, lyrics to a song, screenplay or a script for a play.

Original dramatic works

Dramatic works are original works that are created to be performed. A production of a play would also fall into this category. It must be a work of action, with words or music which is capable of being performed in front of an audience.

Original musical works

Musical copyright protects the actual music of a song and not the lyrics.

Original artistic works

Artistic works can include graphics, photos, sculptures and collages. Copyright can exist irrespective of their artistic merit, however the work must has some aesthetic appeal and must be created by an individual who has exercised his or her workmanship in order to create the work. An item made in a factory does not fall into this category as the artistic ‘craft’ element is missing, and so no copyright claim is possible in this instance.

Film/sound recordings/broadcast

Film copyright protects recordings of moving images. Sound recording copyright protects recordings of sound whether onto tape, CD or digitally recorded. Broadcast copyright protects any transmission to the public whether via TV, satellite or radio.

Typographical arrangements

Typographical work is how a page is laid out in a book, newspaper or journal, which must be a published edition. This allows the publisher to prevent unauthorised copying of a page.

In order to claim copyright it must be decided what category your work falls into and this is something a specialist copyright solicitor can assist you with. These are closed categories, meaning if your work does not fall into one or more of these categories then no copyright can exist.

If you would like to make a copyright claim, then Contact Law can put you in touch with a local law firm with specialist copyright solicitors free of charge. So if you have any questions or would like our help in finding local copyright solicitors please call us on 0800 1777 162 or complete the web-form above.

Last Updated on 02/03/2010