Part 1 extends (partially) to Bermuda by S.I. 2003/1517.
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48), also known as the CDPA , is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received royal assent on 15 November 1988. It reformulates almost completely the statutory basis of copyright law (including performing rights ) in the United Kingdom , which had, until then, been governed by the Copyright Act 1956 (c. 74). It also creates an unregistered design right , and contains a number of modifications to the law of the United Kingdom on Registered Designs and patents .
Works subject to copyright, rights in performances, duration of copyright, transitional provisions, mass-produced artistic works, fair dealing defences and permitted acts, fair dealing defences, educational use, libraries and archives, public administration, relevant cases, moral rights, crown and parliamentary copyrights, enforcement of copyright, infringement of performers' rights, secondary infringement, criminal offences, copyright tribunal, design right, designs and typefaces, registered designs, patents and trademarks, commencement, modifications, transposition of european union directives, other modifying measures, other secondary legislation, references and notes, further reading, external links.
Essentially, the 1988 Act and amendment establishes that copyright in most works lasts until 70 years after the death of the creator if known, otherwise 70 years after the work was created or published (50 years for computer-generated works).
In order for a creation to be protected by copyright it must fall within one of the following categories of work: literary work, dramatic work, musical work, artistic work, films, sound recordings, broadcasts, and typographical arrangement of published editions. [1]
Part 1 of the Act "restates and amends" (s. 172) the statutory basis for United Kingdom copyright law, although the Copyright Acts of 1911 (c. 46) and 1956 (c. 74) continue to have some effect in limited circumstances under ss. 170 & 171 and Schedule 1. It brings United Kingdom law into line with the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works , which the UK signed more than one hundred years previously, and allowed the ratification of the Paris Act of 1971.
Part I of the Act (copyright provisions) extends to the whole of the United Kingdom (s. 157); amendments by Order in Council extended the Act to Bermuda and Gibraltar . Works originating (by publication or nationality/domicile of the author) in the Isle of Man or the following former dependent territories qualify for copyright under the Act: Antigua , Dominica , Gambia , Grenada , Guyana , Jamaica , Kiribati , Lesotho , St. Christopher-Nevis , St. Lucia , Swaziland and Tuvalu . All other countries of origin whose works qualified for United Kingdom copyright under the UK Copyright Act 1911 , also known as the Imperial Copyright Act of 1911, or the 1956 Acts continue to qualify under this Act (para. 4(3) of Schedule 1).
The Act simplifies the different categories of work which are protected by copyright, eliminating the specific treatment of engravings and photographs.
The following works are exempted from copyright by the transitional provisions of Schedule 1:
Finally, section 3(2) states that copyright does not subsist in a literary, dramatic or musical work until it is recorded in writing or otherwise. [2] This act of recording a work in any form is called "fixation." An example includes taking a photograph or writing down a poem. This fixes the work retrospectively from the moment the work was created.
The Act as it received royal assent does not substantially change the qualification requirements of the author or the country of origin of the work, which are restated as ss. 153 – 156: these have since been largely modified, in particular by the Duration of Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 1995 No. 3297.
Part II of the Act creates a series of performers' rights in application of the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations of 1961. These rights are retrospective in respect of performances before commencement on 1 August 1989 (s. 180). These rights have been largely extended by the transposition of European Union directives and by the application of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty : the section below describes only the rights which were created by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 itself.
A performer has the exclusive right to authorise the recording and/or broadcast of his performances (s. 182). The use or broadcast of recordings without the performer's consent (s. 183) and the import or distribution of illicit recordings (s. 184) are also infringements of the performer's rights. A person having an exclusive recording contract over one or more performances of an artist holds equivalent rights to the performer himself (ss. 185 – 188). Schedule 2 lists the permitted acts (limitations) in relation to these rights.
Rights in performances last for fifty years from the end of the year in which the performance was given (s. 191). They may not be assigned or transferred, and pass to the performer's executors on death (s. 192). An infringement of rights in performances is actionable under the tort of breach of statutory duty . Orders are available for the delivery up ( Scots law : delivery) and disposal of infringing copies (ss. 195, 204): holders in rights in performances may also seize such copies (s. 196). The making, dealing in or use of infringing copies is a criminal offense (s. 198), as is the false representation of authority to give consent (s. 201).
The provisions on duration have been largely modified by the Duration of Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 1995 No. 3297. The provisions of the 1988 Act (ss. 12 – 15) as it received Royal Assent are given below. All periods of copyright run until the end of the calendar year in which they would otherwise expire. The duration of copyright under the 1988 Act does not depend on the initial owner of the copyright, nor on the country of origin of the work. The following durations do not apply to Crown copyright, Parliamentary copyright or the copyright of international organisations .
Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works | s. 12 | Copyright lasts for seventy years from the death of the author. If the author is unknown, copyright expires seventy years after the work is first made available to the public (The Duration of Copyright and Rights in Performances Regulations 1995 amended these durations from the previous period of fifty to seventy years). If the work is computer-generated, copyright expires fifty years after the work is made. |
Sound recordings and films | s. 13 | Copyright lasts for fifty years after the recording is made.If the recording or film is released (published, broadcast or shown in public) within this period, the copyright lasts for seventy years from the date of release. (Amended from 50 years by The Copyright and Duration of Rights in Performances Regulations 2013). Note that the Duration of Copyright and Rights in Performances Regulations 1995 amended the durations, for films only, to seventy years from the death of the last principal director, author or composer. If the film is of unknown authorship: seventy years from creation, or if released within this period, seventy years from first release. |
Broadcasts and cable programmes | s. 14 | Copyright lasts for fifty years after the first broadcast or transmission. The repeat of a broadcast or a cable programme does not generate a new copyright period. |
Typographical arrangements | s. 15 | Copyright lasts for twenty-five years after the edition is published. |
These provisions apply to works existing on 1 August 1989, other than those covered by Crown copyright or Parliamentary copyright (paras. 12 & 13 of Schedule 1).
The duration of copyright in the following types of work continued to be governed by the 1956 Act:
— however these transitional provisions were largely cancelled by the 1995 Regulations, [6] which in many cases caused lapsed UK copyrights to be revived.
Copyright in the following types of work lasts until 31 December 2039:
Artistic works that are mass-produced by an industrial process suffer from a downgrading of their copyright term from the life of the creator plus 70 to 25 years as a result of the provisions of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 [7] was introduced into Parliament on 23 May 2012 and received royal assent the next year in April. If section 56(2) of the Bill is enacted then artistic works that are mass-produced by the copyright holder will benefit from the same period of protection as those not replicated in large numbers. The result will be a significant extension from 25 years to that of the life of the creator plus 70 years. The proposed change is a reaction to pressure from the international furniture industry supported by manufacturers of decorative arts: copyright holders of many famous and much copied 20th century furniture design classics such as the Egg Chair and Barcelona Daybed hope that long expired copyright periods will be revived allowing for a further period of commercial exploitation. [8] Some legal commentators have doubted whether the legislation will have the desired effect. They contend that many mass-produced items of 20th-century industrial furniture may not be defined by the courts of the United Kingdom as works of artistic craftsmanship but as mere designs. A design that is not an artistic work attracts no copyright protection under the 1988 Act. [9]
Section 301 and Schedule 6 contain an unusual grant of the right to royalties in perpetuity, proposed by Jim Callaghan , enabling Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children to continue to receive royalties for performances and adaptations, publications and broadcast of " Peter Pan " whose author, J. M. Barrie , had given his copyright to the hospital in 1929, later confirmed in his will. Although often incorrectly referred to as a perpetual copyright , it does not confer Great Ormond Street Hospital full intellectual property rights over the work. The amendment was proposed when Peter Pan's copyright first expired on 31 December 1987, 50 years after Barrie's death, which was the copyright term at that time. Following EU legislation extending the term to author's life + 70 years, Peter Pan's copyright was revived in 1996 and expired on 31 December 2007 in the UK, where Great Ormond Street Hospital's right to remuneration in perpetuity now prevails.
Chapter III of Part I of the Act provides for a number of situations where copying or use of a work will not be deemed to infringe the copyright, in effect limitations on the rights of copyright holders. The existing common law defences to copyright infringement, notably fair dealing and the public interest defence , are not affected (s. 171), although many of the statutory permitted acts would also qualify under one of the common law defences: the defence of statutory authority is specifically maintained in section 50. This chapter of the Act has been substantially modified, notably by the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 No. 2498 transposing the EU Information Society Directive : the description below is of the Act as it received royal assent.
The following are also permitted acts (the list is not exhaustive):
In general, limited copying for educational use (including examination) is permitted so long as it is ' fair dealing ' and is performed by the person giving or receiving instruction (s. 32) or by the education establishment in the case of a broadcast (s. 35) : however, reprographic copying of published editions is only permitted within the limit of 5% of the work per year (s. 36). Works may be performed in educational establishments without infringing copyright, provided that no members of the public are present (s. 34): the parents of pupils are considered members of the public unless they have some other connection with the establishment there are different things too.(e.g., by being teachers or governors). Further provisions are contained in secondary legislation.
Librarians may make and supply single copies of an article or of a reasonable proportion of a literary, artistic or musical work to individuals who request them for the purposes of private study or research (ss. 38 – 40); copying of the entire work is possible if it is unpublished and the author has not prohibited copying (s. – 43). They may also make and supply copies to other libraries (s. 41) and make copies of works in their possession where it is not reasonably possible to purchase further copies (s. 42). The detailed conditions for making copies are contained in secondary legislation, currently the Copyright (Librarians and Archivists) (Copying of Copyright Material) Regulations 1989 No. 1212.
Copyright is not infringed by anything done for the purposes of parliamentary or judicial proceedings or for the purposes of a Royal Commission or statutory inquiry (ss. 45, 46). The Crown may make copies of works which are submitted to it for official purposes (s. 48). Material which is open to public inspection or on an official register may be copied under certain conditions: this includes material made open to public inspection by the European Patent Office and by the World Intellectual Property Organization under the Patent Cooperation Treaty , and material held as public records under the Public Records Act 1958 c. 51 or similar legislation (s. 49).
The Act creates a specific regime of moral rights for the first time in the United Kingdom: previously, an author's moral right had to be enforced through other torts , e.g. defamation , passing off , malicious falsehood . The author's moral rights are:
The moral rights of an author cannot be transferred to another person (s. 94) and pass to their heirs on his death (s. 95): however, they may be waived by consent (s. 87). The right to object to false attribution of a work lasts for twenty years after the author's death. The other moral rights last for the same period as the other copyright rights in the work (s. 86).
There are some narrow exceptions to moral rights. For example, s. 79 states that the right to be named as author does not apply in relation to computer programs, design of a typeface, or any other computer generated work. Additionally, the right to object to any derogatory treatment, does not apply to computer programs, works made for the reporting of current events, newspaper publications, or collective works of reference (s. 81).
Once someone has successfully claimed their moral rights to be infringed, they are entitled to a remedy. As moral rights are non-economic in nature, damages would be for non-economic loss. For example, this might include a remedy imposed by the court that requires the defendant to issue a disclaimer dissociating the author from any derogatory treatment of the work in question.
The act simplifies the regime of Crown copyright , that is the copyright in works of the United Kingdom government, and abolishes the perpetual Crown copyright in unpublished works of the Crown. It also creates the separate concept of parliamentary copyright for the works of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Scottish Parliament , and applies similar rules to the copyrights of certain international organisations.
Crown copyright last for fifty years after publication, or 125 years after creation for unpublished works (s. 163): however, no unpublished works of the Crown will come into the public domain until 31 December 2039, that is fifty years after the commencement of section 163. Acts of the United Kingdom and Scottish parliaments and Church of England measures are protected by Crown copyright for fifty years from royal assent (s. 164). Works of the parliaments of the United Kingdom and of Scotland, except bills and acts, are protected by parliamentary copyright for fifty years after creation: bills are protected from the date of their introduction to the date of royal assent or of rejection (ss. 165 – 167, Parliamentary Copyright (Scottish Parliament) Order 1999 No. 676 ). The works of the United Nations and its specialised agencies and of the Organisation of American States are protected for fifty years after creation (s. 168, Copyright (International Organisations) Order 1989 No. 989 ).
Infringement of copyright is actionable by the copyright owner as the infringement of a property right (s. 96) or, in the case of infringement of moral rights , as the tort of breach of statutory duty (s. 103). Damages will not be awarded against an "innocent" defendant, i.e. one who did not know and had no reason to know that the work was under copyright, but other remedies (e.g. injunction , account of profits : Scots law interdict, accounting and payment of profits) continue to be available (s. 97, see Microsoft v Plato Technology ). Orders are available for the delivery up (Scots law: delivery) and disposal of infringing copies (ss. 99, 114): copyright owners may also seize such copies (s. 100). The making, dealing in or use of infringing copies is a criminal offence (s. 107). Copyright owners may ask the HM Revenue and Customs to treat infringing copies as "prohibited goods", in which case they are prohibited from import (s. 111). Section 297 of the Act makes it an offense to fraudulently receive broadcasts for which a payment is required. Section 300 creates the offense of fraudulently using a trademark, inserted as ss. 58A – 58D of the Trade Marks Act 1938 c. 22.
The Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 amended the CDPA to provide an additional right of performers to require consent before making copies of their performances available to the public by electronic transmission. [20]
The act codifies the principle of secondary infringement, that is knowingly enabling or assisting in the infringement of copyright, which had previously been applied at common law (see R v Kyslant ). Secondary infringement covers:
Liability for secondary infringement is dependent on the defendant knowing or having reason to believe, that the activities in question are wrongful. This question of requisite knowledge is determined objectivity. [21]
Copyright infringement that may be criminal offences under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 are the:
The penalties for these copyright infringement offences may include:
The Act establishes the Copyright Tribunal as a continuation of the tribunal established under s. 23 of the 1956 Act (s. 145). The Tribunal is empowered (s. 149) to hear and determine proceedings concerning:
An appeal on any point of law lies to the High Court , or to the Court of Session under Scots law .
Part III of the Act creates a " design right " separate from the registration of designs governed by the Registered Designs Act 1949 . To qualify, the design must be original (not commonplace in the field in question) and not fall into one of the excluded categories (s. 213(3)):
The design must be recorded in a document after 1989-08-01 (s. 213(6)): designs recorded or used before that date do not qualify (s. 213(7)).
The design right lasts for fifteen years after the design is recorded in a document, or for ten years if articles have been made available for sale (s. 216).
The copyright in a design document is not infringed by making or using articles to that design, unless the design is an artistic work or a typeface (s. 51). If an artistic work has been exploited with permission for the design by making articles by an industrial process and marketing them, the work may be copied by making or using articles of any description after the end of a period of twenty-five years from the end of the calendar year when such articles were first marketed (s. 52). It is not an infringement of the copyright in a typeface to use it in the ordinary course of printing or to use the material produced by such printing (s. 54).
Part IV of the Act contains a certain number of amendments to the Registered Designs Act 1949 c. 88. The criteria for registration of a design and the duration of the registered design right (ss. 1 & 8 of the 1949 Act) are notably modified. Provisions are also added to allow ministers to take action to protect the public interest in monopoly situations (s. 11A of the 1949 Act) and to provide for compensation for Crown use of registered designs (para. 2A to Schedule 1 to the 1949 Act). A consolidated version of the Registered Designs Act 1949 is included (s. 273, Schedule 4).
Part V of the act provides for the registration of patent agents and trade mark agents and for the privilege of their communications with clients from disclosure in court. Part VI of the act creates a system of patents county courts for proceedings involving patents which are of a lesser financial implication.
There are numerous commencement dates for the different sections of the Act, detailed below. The provisions on copyright, rights in performances and design right came into force on 1 August 1989, while the registration of patent agents and trade mark agents came into force on 13 August 1990.
Date of commencement | Provisions | Authority for commencement |
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15 November 1988 | s. 301 and Schedule 6 paras. 24 & 29 of Schedule 5 | s. 305(1) |
15 January 1989 | ss. 293 & 294 | s. 305(2) |
28 July 1989 | ss. 304(4) & (6) | Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (Commencement No. 4) Order 1989 |
1 August 1989 | Parts I–III Parts IV, VI & VII except for provisions mentioned elsewhere Schedules 1–3, 5, 7 & 8 except for provisions below | Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (Commencement No. 1) Order 1989 |
13 August 1990 | Part V para 21 of Schedule 3 Schedule 4 para. 27 of Schedule 5 paras. 15, 18(2) & 21 of Schedule 7 consequential repeals of Schedule 8 ss. 272, 295, 303(1) & (2) insofar as they relate to the above | Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (Commencement No. 5) Order 1990 |
7 January 1991 | paras. 1–11, 17–23, 25, 26, 28 & 30 of Schedule 5 consequential repeals in Schedule 8 ss. 295 & 303(2) insofar as they relate to the above | Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (Commencement No. 6) Order 1990 |
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (Commencement No. 2) and (Commencement No. 3) Orders 1989 are technical measures to allow the preparation of secondary legislation.
The following regulations were made under the European Communities Act 1972 in order to implement European Union directives in UK law.
Directive | Transposition |
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No. 1100 | |
No. 3233 | |
No. 2967 | |
No. 3297 | |
No. 2967 | |
No. 3032 | |
, more usually known as the | No. 2498 |
No. 346 | |
No. 1028 | |
, which replaced the | Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (Amendment) Regulations 2010 No. 2694 |
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives the creator of an original work, or another right holder, the exclusive and legally secured right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself. A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States.
The copyright law of Canada governs the legally enforceable rights to creative and artistic works under the laws of Canada. Canada passed its first colonial copyright statute in 1832 but was subject to imperial copyright law established by Britain until 1921. Current copyright law was established by the Copyright Act of Canada which was first passed in 1921 and substantially amended in 1988, 1997, and 2012. All powers to legislate copyright law are in the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Canada by virtue of section 91(23) of the Constitution Act, 1867 .
The Copyright Act is the federal statute governing copyright law in Canada. It is jointly administered by the Department of Industry Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage. The Copyright Act was first passed in 1921 and substantially amended in 1988 and 1997. Several attempts were made between 2005 and 2011 to amend the Act , but each of the bills failed to pass due to political opposition. In 2011, with a majority in the House of Commons, the Conservative Party introduced Bill C-11, titled the Copyright Modernization Act . Bill C-11 was passed and received Royal Assent on June 29, 2012.
A copyright is the legal protection extended to the owner of the rights in an original work. Original work refers to every production in the literary, scientific, and artistic domains. The Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) is the leading agency responsible for handling the registration and conflict resolution of intellectual property rights and to enforce the copyright laws. IPOPHL was created by virtue of Republic Act No. 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines which took effect on January 1, 1998, under the presidency of Fidel V. Ramos.
Copyright in the Netherlands is governed by the Dutch Copyright Law, copyright is the exclusive right of the author of a work of literature or artistic work to publish and copy such work.
" Authors' rights " is a term frequently used in connection with laws about intellectual property.
In copyright law, related rights are the rights of a creative work not connected with the work's actual author. It is used in opposition to the term "authors' rights". Neighbouring rights is a more literal translation of the original French droits voisins . Both authors' rights and related rights are copyrights in the sense of English or U.S. law.
The Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 transpose the Information Society Directive "(Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society)", , into United Kingdom law. As such, its main effects are to modify the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 c. 48 with minor consequential modifications to other Acts and secondary legislation.
The intellectual property rights on photographs are protected in different jurisdictions by the laws governing copyright and moral rights. In some cases photography may be restricted by civil or criminal law. Publishing certain photographs can be restricted by privacy or other laws. Photography can be generally restricted in the interests of public morality and the protection of children.
Japanese copyright laws consist of two parts: "Author's Rights" and "Neighbouring Rights". As such, "copyright" is a convenient collective term rather than a single concept in Japan. Japan was a party to the original Berne convention in 1899, so its copyright law is in sync with most international regulations. The 1899 law protected copyrighted works for 30 years after the author's death. Law changes promulgated in 1970 extended the duration to 50 years. However, in 2004 Japan further extended the copyright term to 70 years for cinematographic works; for films released before 1971, the copyright term also spans 38 years after the director's death.
The copyright law of Australia defines the legally enforceable rights of creators of creative and artistic works under Australian law. The scope of copyright in Australia is defined in the Copyright Act 1968 , which applies the national law throughout Australia. Designs may be covered by the Copyright Act as well as by the Design Act . Since 2007, performers have moral rights in recordings of their work.
Under the law of the United Kingdom, a copyright is an intangible property right subsisting in certain qualifying subject matter. Copyright law is governed by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended from time to time. As a result of increasing legal integration and harmonisation throughout the European Union a complete picture of the law can only be acquired through recourse to EU jurisprudence, although this is likely to change by the expiration of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020, the UK has left the EU on 31 January 2020. On 12 September 2018, the European Parliament approved new copyright rules to help secure the rights of writers and musicians.
The copyright law of New Zealand is covered by the Copyright Act 1994 and subsequent amendments. It is administered by Business Law Policy Unit of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). In June 2017, a review of the existing legislation was announced.
Interlego AG v Tyco Industries Inc was a case in copyright law that originated in Hong Kong that eventually went before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom.
Fair dealing in United Kingdom law is a doctrine which provides an exception to United Kingdom copyright law, in cases where the copyright infringement is for the purposes of non-commercial research or study, criticism or review, or for the reporting of current events. More limited than the United States doctrine of fair use, fair dealing originates in Sections 29 and 30 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and requires the infringer to show not only that their copying falls into one of the three fair dealing categories, but also that it is "fair" and, in some cases, that it contains sufficient acknowledgement for the original author. Factors when deciding the "fairness" of the copying can include the quantity of the work taken, whether it was previously published, the motives of the infringer and what the consequences of the infringement on the original author's returns for the copyrighted work will be.
Moral rights in United Kingdom law are parts of copyright law that protect the personal interests of the author of a copyrighted work, as well as the economic interests protected by other elements of copyright. Found in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the moral rights are the right to be identified as the author of a work, known as the right of paternity, the right to object to derogatory treatment of a work, known as the right of integrity, the right not to be identified as the author of someone else's work, and the right to privacy. The right of paternity exists for the entire copyright term, and requires individuals who commercially broadcast, sell, perform or exhibit literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works to identify the author of the work – but this does not apply to things such as typefaces, encyclopaedias or works subject to crown copyright.
Moral rights in Canadian copyright law are protected under the Copyright Act of Canada and include an author's right to attribution, integrity and association of a work. Moral rights are to be distinguished from economic rights; moral rights essentially being derived from the reflection of the author's personality in his or her work, whereas economic rights grant an author the ability to benefit economically from their work. An author of a work retains moral rights for the length of the copyright, even if the copyright has been assigned or licensed to another party. Moral rights cannot be assigned or licensed, but can be waived by contract.
Provisions related to Italian copyright law are found in Law no. 633 of 22 April 1941. Certain fundamental provisions are also found in the Italian Civil Code of 1942, Arts. 2575–2583.
The basic legal instrument governing copyright law in Bangladesh is the Copyright Act, 2000 . It is largely based on Pakistan's Copyright Ordinance, 1962 .
The Copyright Act is the legal framework that protects the use of an individual's work once the idea has been physically expressed. It is a form of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. Ghana's current copyright law is Act 690 issued by the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana. It was enacted on 17 May 2005 and replaced Parliament's Act No. 110, the country's previous Copyright law from 1985. The Copyright law affords protection to a variety of works, grants Copyright holders rights to their work and defines the duration of that Copyright protection.
Pre-parliamentary legislation | ||
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of states preceding the Kingdom of Great Britain | ||
Parliament of Scotland |
relating to the (formerly ) |
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for |
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Two Leeds men have today been convicted of copyright infringement.
Brothers Faraz Saddiq, 27 of Woodsley Road, Leeds, and Ayaz Saddiq, 26 of Woodsley Road, Leeds, were arrested following an extensive investigation by West Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit (ECU) and the Federation against Copyright Theft (FACT).
Both were today sentenced to nine-months, suspended for two years, as well as receiving 150 hours unpaid work. The investigation concentrated on two specific websites – ‘www.filmzzz.com’ and ‘www.legalmovies.tv’. Both websites were streaming films which were subject to copyright and no permission had been given by any of the relevant copyright holders to either upload or distribute the material via the websites.
The registered e-mail addresses for the websites were sent ‘cease and desist’ notifications which listed examples of the films that had been shown via the websites infringing copyright material. They were warned that they were committing a criminal offence under section 107(2A) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and were asked to remove all such material. The films listed in the e-mails were removed but other similar content remained on the websites.
In March, 2009, a search warrant was executed at Woodsley Road in Leeds by Officers from West Yorkshire Police and FACT. A search of the property revealed a quantity of computer equipment including laptops, computer towers and other storage media, which were then seized. They were found to contain material which showed they had been used to set up and manage the running of the two websites. Documentation was also seized and the two men Faraz Saddiq and Ayaz Saddiq, were arrested. Following further enquiries the men were charged in August, 2010, with copyright and Proceeds of Crime Acts offences.
David Charity – a Financial Investigation Manager from West Yorkshire Police’s ECU – said: “The Saddiq brothers created the two websites which re-directed users to the location of where they could find illegal copies of movies and television programmes. These included copies of films which at the time were not yet released in the UK. Before they were arrested their websites attracted 60,000 unique users and 125,000 hits everyday. We worked with FACT who identified these websites and brought them to our attention.
I hope it acts as a warning to others who may think they can get away with creating and running websites of this kind.”
Kieron Sharp, FACT Director General, added: “This is another success for FACT, its members and the 2 million people who work in the UK’s creative industries. I would like to extend my immense thanks to officers in West Yorkshire Police who saw this case through.
Despite numerous warnings the Saddiq brothers continued to own and maintain the websites and clearly knew that what they were doing was illegal.
2012 has proved to be a landmark year for FACT, with recent cases leaving no doubt that operating a website that provides access to pirated films and TV programmes will lead to criminal prosecution.”
© 2024 FACT, Regal House, 70 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3QS
Website by 44 Bytes
UK copyright law ( Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 ) defines a number of exceptions, in the form of permitted acts.
These allow you limited use of copyright works for specific purposes without the permission of the copyright owner. Most have conditions and are subject to a 'fair dealing' assessment.
'Fair dealing' is a legal term used to establish whether use of a copyright work is lawful, or whether it infringes copyright. It requires that any copying does not impact on the rights holder and you only copy as much as is necessary for the purpose.
There is no legal definition of fair dealing – it is a matter of fact, degree and impression in each case. The question to be asked is ' How would a fair-minded and honest person have dealt with the work? '
There is no precise answer, but a good rule is to keep it short. The amount you copy must be reasonable and justifiable for the purpose.
When determining whether copying is 'fair', factors to consider include:
This relates to quality as well as quantity. So for example, if you were to copy the final summary of a report this may only be a paragraph, but it would be an important and significant part of the work. This is unlikely to be regarded as fair.
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This covers copying of all types of works for your own private study or non-commercial research. This means that, as students or researchers, you can make a single copy of a short extract from a work e.g. photocopy an extract from a book to read for an assignment. You may not make multiple copies, or share the extract with others.
Copying is subject to fair dealing. The amount that you can copy under fair dealing is not defined in legislation, but as a rule of thumb, safe limits for this exception are likely to be:
This allows the copying of a work in order to analyse text and data, by automated/computational techniques, to identify patterns, trends and other information.
You must already have lawful access to the source, e.g. through a personal or institutional subscription. Any analysis must only be for the purposes of non-commercial research.
Publishers and content providers will be able to apply reasonable measures to maintain their network security or stability. These measures should not prevent, or unreasonably restrict, your ability to carry out analysis. Contract terms that stop researchers making copies to carry out text and data mining will be unenforceable.
This exception covers two distinct uses:
Both permit the use of limited extracts of any type of copyright work provided the work has been made available to the public e.g. published. The amount you can use is subject to a fair dealing test and you must acknowledge the source.
What is 'fair' will vary with circumstances. You should read the guidance on fair dealing provided above. JISC (2014) also advises that in respect of criticism and review it may be relevant to consider the following:
All types of copyright works can be copied for the purposes of illustration when teaching. Copying must be done by the person giving, or receiving instruction and be non-commercial in purpose.
Fair dealing applies, so your copying is restricted to a small amount and must illustrate a teaching point. Acknowledgement of the source must be given. Any form of copying can be used and material can be included on interactive whiteboards, presentations and Moodle.
This provision includes copying for examination . Copying under this exception is now subject to fair dealing, so only small amounts can be used and acknowledgement must be made where practicable. This applies to both setting and answering examinations/assessment. Answering an examination question might include writing a dissertation or thesis in order to meet the requirements of a qualification.
This allows the creation of accessible copies of copyright works by or for a disabled person for personal use. It covers any type of work. A copy of the work should already be owned by the person or institution. An accessible copy must not be available for purchase at a reasonable cost.
The University has an Alternative Format Service that can produce accessible course materials. Please contact Academic Support in the first instance for more assistance.
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In addition to the exceptions already listed, there are other permitted uses of copyright materials, including:
The Intellectual Property Office provides more information about these and other exceptions.
More advice:
Copyright home
Related reading.
This guidance incorporates and adapts material from the following source:
Intellectual Property Office (2014) Exceptions to copyright . Contains public sector information licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0
Quotation from:
JISC (2014) Exceptions to Infringement of Copyright , Copyright Law [Online]
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COMMENTS
Key Sections. Part I of the Act deals with copyright protection, and is split into ten chapters. Chapter 1 establishes the rules for the subsistence, ownership and duration of copyright protection. Chapter II establishes what the rights of a copyright owner are in respect to their work, and consequently what acts infringe these rights.
The Committee was chaired by Mr Justice Whitford, an intellectual property specialist. The other members of the Committee were WH Barber (an academic in the field of French literature), George Burton (Chief Executive of Fisons and a representative of the Confederation of British Industry), George Doughty (a trade unionist), Rosina Harris (a solicitor), 45 Edmund Skone James (son of Francis ...
A copyright owner does not need to prove that the fixation relied upon for the purposes of subsistence of copyright has been copied. They only need to prove that the work has been copied.
Firstly, how does the section fit with copyright's originality requirement? Secondly, what is the justification for the provision? In exploring these questions the article develops a novel criticism of section 9(3): the section is either unnecessary or unjustifiably extends legal protection to a class of works which belong in the public domain.
Test of joint ownership - Problems can occur when there is a need to determine whether a person involved in the creation of a piece of work may have joint ownership. When this is the case, there is a test that can be applied, similar to the one which is used to determine originality. This test is used in order to show that the labour, skill and judgement exercised by the author are unique and ...
Lurking beneath the surface of this second debate is perhaps a more fundamental issue: should copyright only reward acts of truly human cognition or does it play a more utilitarian role in society, encouraging the production and distribution of new works irrespective of the manner in which they were created?
26 Although the case concerned an application for summary judgment, 27 Laddie J set out, albeit on a provisional basis, his opinion on the relationship between copyright in designs and any subsisting design right, in part on the basis of an interpretation of the effect and application of s 51 of the 1988 Act. The Facts of the Case
An Act to restate the law of copyright, with amendments; to make fresh provision as to the rights of performers and others in performances; to confer a design right in original designs; to amend the Registered Designs Act 1949; to make provision with respect to patent agents and trade mark agents; to confer patents and designs jurisdiction on certain county courts; to amend the law of patents ...
copyright as a socially useful right, which it is sensible to award to the author, in order to encourage the production of new knowledge and new works for the long-term benefit of society.
It also provides links to copyright practice notes on subsistence, duration and first ownership; primary infringement, secondary infringement and remedies available; main permitted acts; moral rights and artist's resale right; and international protection of copyright.
Using the work of others. Fact sheet P-27. Issued: November 2009 Last Amended: 22nd June 2022
An Act to restate the law of copyright, with amendments; to make fresh provision as to the rights of performers and others in performances; to confer a design right in original designs; to amend the Registered Designs Act 1949; to make provision with respect to patent agents and trade mark agents; to confer patents and designs jurisdiction on
An Act to restate the law of copyright, with amendments; to make fresh provision as to the rights of performers and others in performances; to confer a design right in original designs; to amend the Registered Designs Act 1949; to make provision with respect to patent agents and trade mark agents; to confer patents and designs jurisdiction on ...
Under s29 (Research and private study) of the CDPA 1988 A fair dealing copy can be made for the purposes of non-commercial research. Where possible the copy should be accompanied by an appropriate acknowledgement, though this is not essential where it would be impractical to do so. The section also covers copying for the purposes of private study.
United Kingdom - Year of Version: 2023 - Assented: November 15, 1988 - Main IP Laws - Copyright and Related Rights (Neighboring Rights)
confers power and blanket amendment details. all formats of all associated documents. links to related legislation and further information resources. An Act to restate the law of copyright, with amendments; to make fresh provision as to the rights of performers and others in performances; to confer a design right in original designs; to amend ...
An Act to restate the law of copyright, with amendments; to make fresh provision as to the rights of performers and others in performances; to confer a design right in original designs; to amend the Registered Designs Act 1949; to make provision with respect to patent agents and trade mark agents; to confer patents and designs jurisdiction on ...
5 minutes reading time. In the recent copyright infringement case of Response Clothing Ltd v The Edinburgh Woollen Mill Ltd, His Honour Judge Hacon, a Judge in the specialist Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC), held that the Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) had infringed the copyright owned by Response Clothing in respect of a wave ...
Chapter III of Part I of the Act provides for a number of situations where copying or use of a work will not be deemed to infringe the copyright, in effect limitations on the rights of copyright holders. The existing common law defences to copyright infringement, notably fair dealing and the public interest defence, are not affected (s. 171), although many of the statutory permitted acts would ...
77 Right to be identified as author or director . 78 Requirement that right be asserted . 79 Exceptions to right . Right to object to derogatory treatment of work. 80 Right to object to derogatory treatment of work . 81 Exceptions to right . 82 Qualification of right in certain cases . 83 Infringement of right by possessing or dealing with ...
Following further enquiries the men were charged in August, 2010, with copyright and Proceeds of Crime Acts offences. David Charity - a Financial Investigation Manager from West Yorkshire Police's ECU - said: "The Saddiq brothers created the two websites which re-directed users to the location of where they could find illegal copies of ...
This covers copying of all types of works for your own private study or non-commercial research. This means that, as students or researchers, you can make a single copy of a short extract from a work e.g. photocopy an extract from a book to read for an assignment. You may not make multiple copies, or share the extract with others.
37 Changes to legislation: