Copyright is a property right which automatically subsists, inter alia, in an original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work.

Copyright cannot be registered, although we recommend keeping records enabling the date of creation of a work to be easily determined.

Ownership of copyright is not transferred by virtue of a commission, and this should be borne in mind when engaging designers and the like.

We are most usually asked to advise in the category of "artistic work", because this can overlap with unregistered design right.

An artistic work is defined as:

(a) a graphic work, photograph, sculpture or collage, irrespective of artistic quality,

(b) a work of architecture being a building or a model for a building, or

(c) a work of artistic craftsmanship.

A building includes any fixed structure, and a part of a building or fixed structure.

Graphic works include any painting, drawing, diagram, map, chart or plan, and any engraving, etching, lithograph, woodcut or similar work.

A photograph means a recording of light or other radiation on any medium on which an image is produced or from which an image may by any means be produced, and which is not part of a film.

A sculpture includes a cast or model made for purposes of sculpture.

The question of whether an article is a work of artistic craftsmanship has to be carefully determined, because this often dictates whether the article is protected by copyright or unregistered design right. Please click here for more information on UK Unregistered Design Right.

Copyright in an artistic work expires at the end of the period of 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies (subject to exceptions). However, if an artistic work is exploited by industrial manufacture of a design and subsequent sale, then this term is limited to 25 years from the end of the calendar year in which the article is first marketed.

Copyright is infringed by a person, who without the permission of the copyright owner,

• Copies the work,
• Issues the work to the public,
• Rents or lends the work to the public,
• Performs, shows or plays the work in public,
• Broadcasts the work or includes it in a cable programme service,
• Makes an adaption of the work or does any of the above in relation to an adaption.

Copyright is also infringed by a person who without the licence of the copyright owner does, or authorises another to do, any of the above restricted acts.

We advise on copyright issues on a case by case basis, and we kindly ask you to telephone us if you have an enquiry relating to copyright. The information on this page is simplified for general interest only and does not constitute advice relating to law or practice.