10 June 2022

Copyright Facts 

By Thomas G C Hood, IP Officer at Naomi Korn Associates

Naomi Korn Associates offers a wealth of free and accessible resources about copyright and data protection. Alongside our client work, we believe that it is vital to ensure that cultural heritage organisations, educational organisations, charities and other clients that we work with are as aware as possible about their legal compliance obligations as well as rights they may have in a work.

Our recently revised Copyright Factsheet provides a comprehensive summary of copyright, providing an outline of the key principles and helpful follow up resources about best practice. Specifically, it can help an individual understand whether they have a copyright work, what kind of work they have, and the term of protection. It notes that the basis of Copyright predominantly arises from the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and other key issues such as Moral Rights and an overview of Creative Commons Licences. 

The points covered in the updated version can be used in a number of different ways. For example, it can help people start to work out whether or not their work is owned by more than one individual. Copyright ownership can lie in more than one pair of hands, having significant ramifications for the ways a work can be exploited. For example, a book might be owned by two co-authors, a sculpture made by two artists together, a painter and a carpenter. If you want to use this work in some way, you would likely need permission from both before utilising it in your own work.

Once issues have been identified, our staff and consultants can provide further guidance and training as well as drafting agreements and templates. We can also help guide you through the process of analysing who owns the copyright, secure permissions on your behalf and help you decide what to do about orphan works and risk management. 

You can find our Copyright Fact Sheet here.