About copyright

Overview of copyright, how it works and how long it lasts.

In summery Copyright in the UK and abroad protects your work and stops others from using it without your permission.

How do you apply for copyright?

You get copyright protection instantly, without having to apply and you also don’t need to pay, however you may have to in other countries.

You are eligible for copyright protection when you make your own original work, below is a few examples:

Photography, software, web content, sound and music recordings, film and television recordings, broadcasts and podcasts.

You can also use copyright symbol (©) for work you make yourself. This symbol can be copied onto your own work (work may include a song movie book etc..). However, it does not matter if you mark the work or not, does not affect the protection you have. However, it can be used as a deterrent to stop people from copying your work.

Copyright protects your work and prevents people from:

• copying your work

• distributing copies of it, whether it’s free or for sale

• renting copies of your work

• playing your work in public

• making a different version of your work (adaptation)

• putting it on the internet without permission (or re-uploading it)

• Copyright overseas in another country

work could be protected by copyright in other countries through worldwide agreements, for example, the Berne Convention which affects most countries in the world.

In most countries around the globe copyrighted material lasts the minimum of life, plus another 50 years after the death of the creator, this is for most types of written work, films and artistic works, also at least 25 years for photographs. however, it can be different for other types of work.