Chapter CG68250
| Published date | 12 March 2016 |
| Record Number | CG68250 |
| Court | HM Revenue & Customs |
| Issuer | HM Revenue & Customs |
Copyright is a property right which protects the economic interests of authors in relation to works created by them. The owner of copyright has the exclusive right to do certain acts in respect of the work in question which would otherwise be restricted. For example, if a person without the consent or licence of the copyright owner, imports into the UK an article which he has reason to believe is an infringing copy of the work and which he uses for non-domestic or public purposes, he will infringe copyright. Copyright infringement is generally actionable by the owner of copyright, an exclusive licensee or, in certain cases, a non-exclusive licensee, who has a claim for damages, injunctive relief or an account of profits against the infringer.
Whilst copyright in relation to a particular work consists of a bundle of rights it is treated as a single asset within the meaning of TCGA92/S21(1).
Ideas are not the subject matter of copyright except in relation to the form in which ideas are expressed. To be protected by copyright under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) that form of expression must, in the case of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, be original. That is, it must originate from the author, not be copied from another work and it must involve some labour, skill or independent judgment.
Works created on or after 1 August 1989 are protected in law by the CDPA 1988 whilst works created before that date are protected by pre-existing legislation. The statutory provisions prevent the unauthorised use of copyright works thus protecting the economic interests of the author.
S1 CDPA 1988 provides that copyright subsists in the following descriptions of work:
- original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works,
- sound recordings, films, broadcasts or cable programmes, and
- the typographical arrangement of published editions.Literary works include work expressed in writing or in print which involves skill and labour and generally affords information, instruction or pleasure. The Copyright (Computer Programs) Regulations 1992 extended the rules covering literary works to include computer programs.
A database may qualify for protection under the CDPA 1988 as a literary work. In such situations it may be termed a copyright database and the general rules relating to copyright apply. A database may also be protected under the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997 (SI 1997/3032) by virtue of a database...
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