What is copyright, how is it protected and
when does infringement occur?
I’m John Gallagher from Argon Law.
Today I would like to briefly discuss the
concept of intellectual property with you
in the context of copyright.
Intellectual property is a bundle of rights
that come into existence through the innovative
use of our mind and knowledge.
Intellectual property rights protect and benefit
the people who create them, own them, or who
acquire the right to use them in another way.
Copyright is one form intellectual property.
It does not exist in ideas alone, but rather
the detailed and original expression of ideas
in a material form.
These expressions are called “works” under
Copyright law.
The Copyright Act protects different kinds
of works, with the most common being literary,
dramatic, visual and artistic works.
Films, television broadcasts and sound recordings
are also protected.
If Copyright exists, no registration is needed.
The authors or owners of copyright automatically
receive certain exclusive rights which expire
70 years from the date the author dies.
This includes the right to exclude others
from reproducing, publishing, performing or
adapting the original work.
While copyright automatically receives protection
upon creation, there is a difference between
creating copyright and proving its existence
when facing infringement allegations.
This is why the copyright symbol often appears
on certain works in conjunction with the author’s
name, and the date of creation.
Infringement arises when a later work is objectively
similar to an earlier work and these similarities
are found to occur through a causal connection
– namely, an inference of copying.
If you would like to know more about copyright
or intellectual property generally, please
visit our website or give us a call.
