Introduction To Copyright
Copyright protection subsists automatically when you create a new work. It can subsist in:
- Original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, including illustrations and photography;
- Original non-literary written work, such as databases, software, web content;
- Sound and music recordings;
- Film and television recordings;
- Broadcasts
- Adaptations of published editions of written, dramatic or musical works.
Copyright Services
Copyright Protection
In some countries, there is a facility for an author to register their copyright work but this is not available in the UK. As such, it is important to keep accurate records and have evidence of the date of creation of the copyright work as this marks the start of the copyright protection.
Copyright FAQs
We’ve compiled a list of our most popular Copyright FAQs. We hope you find these useful. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’ll do our best to help.Copyright protects original works of art, music, literature, films, broadcast and cable programmes, sound recordings and/or typographical arrangements of published editions. Protection subsists automatically once an original work has been produced in some permanent form.
Copyright protection prevents third parties from reproducing the work in a substantially similar form, using copies of the work to the public, perform, show or play the work in public or make an adaptation of the work without permission from the owner of the original copyright work.
The term of copyright protection varies depending on the type of work in question. As an example, copyright protection subsists in original literature works for 70 years from the end of the year in which the author dies, or if the author is unknown, 70 years from the end of the year in which the work is first made available to the public.
Copyright protection subsists in computer generated works for 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work is first made.
The United Kingdom is a member of the Berne Copyright Convention to which a large number of overseas countries are also members. The Berne Copyright Convention allows owners of copyright works to have protection for their copyright in other member countries. However, some member countries, and non-member countries, require copyright works to be registered at the National Intellectual Property Office before the copyright subsisting in the work can be enforced against a third party in that country.
To demonstrate that copyright protection subsists in your work, you need to keep dated drawings and/or copies of the work and any modifications made to the work, in such a form that they can be used to provide evidence of copyright at some point in the future.
Meet Our Experts
Alex is a fully qualified UK and European Patent Attorney and a Patent Attorney Litigator. She is a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys and is a registered professional representative at the European Patent Office and the Unified Patents Court.
Alex joined Bailey Walsh & Co LLP in 1998 and became a partner of the Firm in 2005. She holds a BA in Natural Sciences and a PhD in Medical Physiology & Biochemical Pathways, both from Cambridge University. Alex has been awarded a number of academic prizes for achievement both at University and in her professional career.
Alex has an excellent grounding in a wide range of scientific disciplines including biochemistry, chemistry, physiology, pharmacology, pathology, genetics, microbiology and cell biology. Although Alex’s academic background has been largely in the field of biotechnology and life sciences, she has gained substantial experience in the technical fields of electrical and mechanical engineering, as well as telecommunications, having drafted and prosecuted patent applications in these sectors for over 25 years. Alex advises on patent, design, trade mark and copyright issues.
Alex has a depth of experience in representing clients at Opposition proceedings at the European Patent Office, and also at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO). Alex works closely with lawyers in the UK and abroad in both the enforcement and defence of our clients’ patent rights.
Alexandra Tomkinson
David is a fully qualified UK and European Patent Attorney, as well as a fully qualified UK Trade Mark Attorney and Patent Attorney Litigator. He is a fellow of The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, a Member of The Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys and is a registered representative at the European Patent Office and the Unified Patents Court.
David entered the profession in 2009, joined Bailey Walsh & Co LLP in early 2012, and became a partner of the firm in January 2020. David holds an MChem (Hons.) degree in Chemistry from Durham University where he gained a very good understanding of all areas of Chemistry. Prior to entering the IP profession, David gained industrial experience in the pharmaceuticals sector working for one of the world’s leading drug development companies. While studying at university, David also gained further academic experience in particle science and engineering working each summer with PhD groups in the engineering department of Leeds University.
David’s patent work covers a broad range of technologies, with a focus predominantly on mechanical and engineering patent matters, drafting patent applications and prosecuting them through to grant, advising and aiding clients with their international filing strategies, and representing clients in opposition and appeal proceedings at the European Patent Office. David’s trade mark qualifications complement his patent work and enable him to provide “full picture” advice to his clients.
David Corbyn
Graham is a fully qualified UK and European Patent Attorney and a Patent Attorney Litigator. He is a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys and is a registered representative at the European Patent Office and the Unified Patents Court.
Graham joined Bailey Walsh & Co LLP in 1990 and became a partner of the Firm in 1997. He holds a Masters of Engineering degree from The University of Strathclyde.
Having gained experience in all Intellectual Property matters, Graham deals with patents and provides detailed advice in this field. His work ranges from the prosecution of new patent applications to the provision of specific advice for prosecution strategies in the UK, Europe and across the world, having had extensive experience of patent procedures in the European, United States, Japan, China, Eurasian, and African Regional and International Patent Systems.
Graham represents many clients at Opposition and Appeal Proceedings at the European Patent Office and works closely with lawyers in the UK and abroad in both the enforcement and defence of patents. He is also extensively involved in advising on patent licensing issues, the assessment of the value of third party patent portfolios and the development of strategies to allow clients to generate patent portfolios to develop income streams is also an important area of his expertise.
Graham Wood
Phil is a fully qualified UK and European Patent Attorney, as well as a fully qualified UK and European Trade Mark Attorney and Patent Attorney Litigator. He is a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, a Member of The Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys and is a registered representative at the European Patent Office and the Unified Patents Court.
Phil joined Bailey Walsh & Co LLP in December 2006, after a year as a Business Science Fellow at the University of Nottingham gaining experience in how to extract value from the University’s expertise and IP portfolio. Phil holds an MSci and PhD in Chemistry, also from the University of Nottingham.
The multidisciplinary nature of Phil’s doctorate, mixing the disciplines of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, gave him a solid grounding in many areas of technology including asymmetric chemical synthesis, catalysis, enzymatic reactions, high pressure systems supercritical fluids. As a result Phil handles a broad range of technical subject matter in patent drafting and prosecution including artificial intelligence and medical devices.
Alongside Phil’s patent work he manages clients’ trade mark and design portfolios and has represented many national and international clients before the UK Trade Marks Registry and at the European Office, in both prosecution work, opposition and invalidation actions.
Philip Stephenson
