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All of the arts are creative expressions of the human
mind and are expressed visually, through writing, through sound,
through movement, in 3D and in multimedia format. All of these
expressions of the human mind are called works and include
paintings, poems, novels, drawings, photos, plays, choreography,
sculptures, movies, computer games and buildings.
All artistic work comes from the expression of an
author’s emotions, interpretations and feelings and undoubtedly add
to the quality of our lives. Cultures and civilizations are often
defined by the art work they leave behind and cities are often
styled according to the creativity of individuals such as
Gaudi and Eiffel. The creative arts provide us with direct links to
history through cave paintings and hieroglyphics. They also provide
a major economic input to society in the present day.
Copyright protects a wide range of works including
written works, musical works, artistic works, dramatic and
choreographic works, films and multimedia products and computer
programs.
Copyright does not protect ideas or facts rather it
protects how the idea is expressed. For example five artists asked
to paint a picture of an aeroplane crash will all paint their own
interpretation using their own creative imagination. Each author
will be entitled to copyright protection for their specific
expression of the general idea of an aeroplane crash in the form of
their specific painted visual image. It is the expression that makes
the work original.
The only condition for copyright is that the work is
original namely it is not copied from another work. It requires a
degree of independent skill and labour to be expended on behalf of
the author. Copyright protection does not depend on artistic quality
so that a finger painting by a child has the same copyright
protection as a Nobel laureate’s novel. Copyright protection is
automatic and comes into existence upon creation of the work. The
copyright symbol © is inserted as a reminder that a work has
copyright protection often followed by the author's name and the year
of creation.
The Berne Convention provides commensurate rights to
copyright holders in over 160 signatory countries throughout the
world.
Copyright protection gives the owner the right to
prevent a third party from reproducing, adapting, translating,
exhibiting or performing in public, distributing , broadcasting or
communicating to the public the protected work without their
permission. The Berne Convention ensures a minimum copyright term of
50 years from the end of the year in which an author dies but
European Union countries and the United States provide a term of 70
years for certain copyright works.
Copyright law is complex and
requires specialist advice in relation to the specific situation.
Please contact our office for further details.
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