Copyright & Unregistered Design Right

Copyright Protection

Copyright protects literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works from copying by unauthorised third parties.

In the UK, Copyright protection subsists automatically once an original work has been produced in a permanent form. In other countries, Copyright protection has to be registered before the right can be used to stop unauthorised third party copying.

The length of term of Copyright protection varies depending on the type of work in question. For example, the term is 70 years from the end of the calendar year after the death of the author for literary, artistic, musical and dramatic works, but may be reduced if the work is industrially exploited.

Since the date of creation of a Copyright is important to the start date of the protection, it is important to keep accurate records of Copyright works.

We can advise on all aspects of Copyright, such as for example how to keep and maintain records, what term of protection is applicable to a particular work, licensing and infringement.

Unregistered Design Right Protection

Unregistered Design Right protects functional as well as aesthetic three dimensional features of shape and configuration of a whole or part of an article.

Design Right is similar to Copyright in that there is no registration procedure in the UK and Europe. It subsists automatically once original aspects of shape and configuration of an article have been produced in a permanent form.

In the UK, the term of Design Right protection is 15 years from the end of the calendar year in which the design is first recorded. If an article is made to the design during the first five years of this term, protection is reduced to 10 years from the end of the calendar year in which the article is made.

In the European Union the term of Design Right protection is 3 years from the date of the first public disclosure of the design within the European Union.

Since the date of creation of the design is important to the start date of the protection, it is important to keep accurate records of design development.

We can advise on all aspects of Unregistered Design Right, such as for example how to keep and maintain records, licensing and infringement.

A more detailed summary of Copyright and Unregistered Design Right is provided under the following headings:


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