From the earliest times draftsmen have wanted to be acknowledged as the creator of their work in order to generate new commissions. So, the law of copyright has developed to protect those who create original works and, by enabling them to govern how their work is used, ensure that artistic endeavour can be profitable.

Copyright in the UK is governed by the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988. This act protects original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, sound recordings, films, broadcasts and cable programmes from copying. Any creator of an original work has the protection of copyright, from the producer of a film to the author of copy for a website.

It is a common misconception that copyright has to be registered in some way in order to be protected. This is not the case. Copyright in an original work exists once that work is published. What is meant by published depends on the nature of the work protected. For example a dramatic work is “published” when it is first performed, a cable programme when it is first broadcast on TV.

Copyright is infringed when a person “copies” the original work. Copying occurs when the work is copied in any permanent or transient form, for example if you print-off this article and copy it, you will be infringing SGH’s copyright in it.

You will see that SGH has a copyright statement on this site. Along with using the symbol © on your work, this is one of the most basic and effective ways of asserting copyright. Whilst they actually stop someone copying the work they do act as a deterrent and make it less easy for a person to claim that they did not know the work was subject to copyright or to claim that they created the work.

SGH is often approached by websites owners who have found that the webdesign company who have created a site have pulled the plug on it for one reason or another. The most usual justification for their doing so is that they own the copyright in the site and can withdraw their permission for the work to be used. Similarly, webdesigners often contact us for assistance where clients have breached the webdesigners' copyright by changing the site or by using hard copy of the site in promotional campaigns.

If a third party is creating an original work for you it is important either to seek a licence to use the work or an assignment of the copyright to you. If you are the creator of the work, you should consider specifying either that the copyright in the work will remain yours and provide a licence to use it, or assign it (possibly for an additional fee) to the person for whom it was created.

Emma Shipp Partner, Company / Commercial Department 020 7544 5550 emmas@sghlaw.com