THIS IS FOR THE LPC ELECTIVE MODULE 'COMMERCIAL LAW AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY' ON THE JAN START 2017 LPC AT BPP UNIVERSITY.
I HAVE LISTENED TO ALL THE LECTURES AND TYPED THEM UP VERBATIM.
THIS SERVES AS AN EXTREMELY USEFUL REVISION AID PARTICULARLY BECAUSE THE LPC 'CHAPTERS' i.e. required readi...
Copyright is not a monopoly right unlike registered trade-marks which are.
Copyright protects creative works e.g. literary, dramatic, musical & artistic works
Important to recognise which type of work receives which type of protection so if
you’re considering something creative or artistic then copyright is probably one of
the issues that will protect it.
Introductory Points lecture slide: copyright is an unregistered right so if you want to
sue someone for breach of copyright then you need to prove:
- you have copyright in your own work
- you need to show that copyright subsists & that you are indeed the owner of it
There is not a register you can point to, like you can for trade-marks, to prove that
you are the registered owner.
What Copyright Protects lecture slide: only certain categories of work are protected
by copyright, it’s a closed list found in s.1 CDPA: literary, dramatic, musical, artistic,
films, sound recordings & broadcast and typographical arrangements of published
editions.
You’ll need to look at the client’s work and ascertain which category or categories it
falls into. If it doesn’t fall within the closed list then it won’t be protected by
copyright.
For some types of work, it is a requirement that the work is fixed i.e. recorded in
some way.
Original work – i.e. not copied from someone else
Does copyright still subsist in the work – i.e. are you out of copyright or is copyright
still in its duration? Need to know the rules on duration to calculate the copyright
period to see if the copyright has expired or not.
4 Steps for Classifying Subsistence & Ownership:
(1) Identify the work
(2) Fixed?
(3) Original?
(4) Duration?
Identify the work (literary works) lecture slide: only some examples given, for full
detail go to paragraph 4.1 of chapter 1: s.1(1)(a) CDPA for literary works – need to be
original and fixation is a requirement.
Need to look at s.3(1) CDPA to see if something falls within the definition of a literary
work – i.e. any work other than a musical or a dramatic work which is written,
spoken or sung.
Literary merit is irrelevant – i.e. doesn’t matter if the work is good or not e.g.
application forms, computer software, chapters & exam papers should fall within this
definition of a literary work regardless of literary merit.
Identify the work (musical works) lecture slide: need to be original and fixed. Musical
works deal with the musical score e.g. the melody to a song.
The lyrics to a song is a literary work not a musical work. The musical score i.e. the
melody will be the musical work.
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, If a client has both lyrics & a melody – then they will have 2 types of copyright, both
literary and musical copyright.
Artistic works (paragraph 4.1.3 in chapter 1 for more detail) need to be original but
don’t need to be fixed because by their very nature they will be fixed e.g.
photograph.
S.4(1) CDPA splits artistic works into 3 distinct categories:
1. Graphic works s.4(1)(a) CDPA e.g. photograph, sculpture, paintings, plans, maps
etc.
2. Works of architecture s.4(1)(b) CDPA e.g. fixed structures & models
3. Works of artistic craftsmanship s.4(1)(c) CDPA e.g. fine jewellery, furniture,
ceramics etc.
Graphic works lecture slide – one can get copyright irrespective of any artistic merit.
Architecture lecture slide – note that architectural drawings will actually be held as
graphic works.
Artistic craftsmanship lecture slide – court determined that it has to be something
which has aesthetic appeal and something which is made by a craftsperson. It won’t
cover factory mass-produced/manufactured items.
Typographical arrangements lecture slide – s.1(1)(C) & 8 CDPA. Typographical
arrangements will cover the layout and the typesetting of a book or newspaper for
example, something that qualifies as a published edition.
Criteria for copyright protection lecture slide – Fixation is necessary for literary,
dramatic and musical works. With regard to originality, it is a low threshold – doesn’t
need to be particularly inventive but there does need to be some thought gone into
it e.g. the statement ‘pull ring tab to open’ will not satisfy the originality threshold
because there is no other real way to express that instruction, there is no real
thought gone into it.
Independent creation – it is possible to have 2 authors who can come to the same or
similar works independently of each other. This is an important factor in
consideration for infringement.
Author lecture slide: In order to work out duration (whether something is still in
copyright) you need to know who the author is and that is because the duration of
copyright is linked, generally, to the author’s life.
S.9 & 10 CDPA deals with authorship.
General rule: the author of a work is the person who creates it.
There is also the possibility of joint ownership under s.10 CDPA – this is usually where
2 or more persons collaborated with each other.
Joint ownership can only be claimed if the contributions are indistinct from each
other.
General rule is that copyright lasts for the author’s life + 70 years – s.12(2) CDPA.
There are some exceptions to this – it is shorter for some types of work (set out in
detail in paragraph 6.2 of chapter 1) e.g. typographical copyright.
Don’t confuse who the author is and who the current owner is. The author can be
someone very different to the owner e.g. if the owner assigned (i.e. sold) the
copyright to someone else then they will be the new owner i.e. has copyright been
assigned to a third party?
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