6 November 2024

Navigating Copyright in Audio-Visual Works: Essential Guide for Creators and Users

By Sean Waterman, Head of Intellectual Property

‘Audio-visual’ works are creative works that combine both images and sound into a single entity. Examples range from professionally produced feature films to recorded lectures that use images. There are many layers of copyright and other related rights to consider if you are either producing or using audio visual works.

Most audio-visual works qualify for copyright protection as films which are defined as any recording onto a medium from which a moving image can be produced. In the UK film was only introduced as a category of copyright protected works in 1957. Films made before 1957 however may be afforded copyright protection as dramatic works and/or as a series of photographs.

The duration of copyright protection for films made since 1957 is dependent on ‘persons connected with the film’ these are the principal director, author of screenplay, author of dialogue and the composer of music. Copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the last surviving person connected with the film.

Non creative films that are mere fixations such as CCTV footage that have no director, author of screenplay, author of dialogue and music composer have a more limited duration of copyright protection that lasts for 50 years after the creation of the work.

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) identifies the film producer and principal director as the joint authors and first copyright owners of a film, although the copyright can be assigned to another party.  The copyright holder has the exclusive right over how their audio-visual work may be copied, shown in public, communicated to the public through broadcasts or online, or otherwise made available to the public.

Copyright in a film applies separately from the copyright and the term of protection for works or performances which are included in the film. Therefore, it is important to consider any underlying rights that may exist in the components of a film. These include any copyright held by composers of music, script writers, screenplay writers, designers, or copyright holders to artistic or other audio-visual works included in a film as well as the performers rights of actors and musicians.

Understanding the complex layers of copyright and other rights associated with audio visual works is vital for cultural institutions that hold archives of audio-visual works or any organisation that commissions new audio-visual works.

Sean will be leading Naomi Korn Associates’ next date of our intermediate level Copyright and Audio-Visual Content course, on 27 November 9:30am-1pm, worth 3 CPD Points. This course is perfect for participants who work with film and/or sound recordings. It is designed to help them learn more about how copyright relates to audio visual material. Participants should already have a basic understanding of copyright. Book now via the link above or contact our Training Manager at info@naomikorn.com.

Each of our intermediate courses can be taken as an individual course or as part of our Intermediate Certificate (available in Copyright and in Data Protection). For further information, please see our ‘Certification and Accreditation’ page. For a full description of all courses, please see ‘Our Courses’ page. For a full public courses timetable, please go to our Eventbrite page. If you have any queries or would like to get in touch, please reach out to our Training Manager at info@naomikorn.com.