Understanding Copyright

Copyright

• Depends on the scale of its usage
• Authors have the right to object the use of their materials
• In the UK, copyright is automatic, and there is no registration system.
• Who owns the copyright? The one who made the work, but sometimes contents posted on social networking sites and image hosting sites might have terms and conditions regarding this. So, as artists, we should not be indifferent to these terms and conditions and read it prior to posting any content to avoid future problems.
• The duration of copyright in general: Life + 70 years
• Duration for sound recordings: 70 years
• Copyright is a sensitive issue in the commercial business, such that we should respect the owner of the intellectual property that we want to include by getting the owner and the organisation/company's permission if we were to use it for commercial purpose.
• How to prove that I originated a piece of work? Solicitor owns it, prove when you made it, authenticity, and the easiest way is to just post it to yourself.
• How to set a copyright into your work? Simply put ©Your Name and year of publication

Fair Use

• To make a statement based on a pre-existing content
• Educational purpose

Copyleft

• Non-profit
• Author may give every person who receives a copy of a work permission to reproduce, adapt or distribute it.
• Something that is freely available

Creative Commons

• Share, remix and reuse, even for commercial purpose as long as artists are credited
• Simple, standardised - straightforward (opposite to 'All Rights Reserved)
• Non-derivatives - not changed, gets credits
• Non commercial