Copyright Designs and Patents Act

What Is Copyright?

Copyright is a property right of a person in relation to their published and unpublished literary, dramatic, scientific, musical and artistic works provided that are in a “real” form. This means that if you can see it, hear it and/or touch it then the creator may “own” it. Copyright can be applied to almost anything therefore and although we tend to think of it in terms of a book, a sound recording, a film or play, or a scientific discovery it can equally be applied to a photograph, a computer graphic or an original dance.

Copyright laws grant the creator the exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform and display the work publicly.

More information on copyright can be obtained from www.patent.gov.uk.