Intellectual Property Protection

Copyright gives its owner the exclusive right to manage and control the use of their creative works. In the UK, copyright is an automatic right which comes into being as soon as

a qualifying work is created. As a result, there is no formal registration or fee to pay.

As there is no official copyright register in the UK, it can be useful for copyright owners to take steps to prove that they are the creator of their works in case this is ever called into question.

Ways to do this include retaining any rough drafts, plans or notes of works produced.

Alongside this, some people choose to mark their work with the copyright symbol © and an accompanying statement. Although this doesn’t confer any additional legal protection in the UK, it can help to draw third parties’ attention to the fact that copyright is in force and that they need to seek permission if they want

to use the work.

For most types of work, copyright lasts for the life of the creator, plus 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which they died. However, this will vary depending on the type of work and when it was created. Copyright in foreign works lasts as long as copyright in UK works, or as long as copyright lasts in the country of origin of the work, whichever is less.

UK copyright law extends full, partial or no protection to foreign works and performances based on the country of origin of the work or performance. This is generally based on principles in the copyright treaties that the UK has joined. The UK also has trade agreements and reciprocal arrangements with various countries under which the UK protects copyright works and performances from those countries.