Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner rights over use of the work that they have created. The kinds of works covered by copyright include:
You can't copyright thoughts or ideas that only stay in your head - you can only copyright expressions of ideas in some material form - like the examples listed above.
Once you create a work, it is automatically copyrighted. You don't need to register for copyright protection; there is no system for registering copyright - it's granted upon creation of the work.
The rights granted to a copyright holder include the right to control:
Copyright is protected by law and breach of copyright (the technical term is "infringement") can lead to a court appearance, as legislation provides for infringement to be a criminal offence. In addition, infringers can also be liable for civil damages.
In addition to the rights mentioned above, often described as "economic rights" copyrights grants:
Moral rights were introduced in the 2000 Copyright Act has part of the harmonisation process with the EU
Copyright is a complex area, and its assertion can be, and is, abused. However, it is important and does offer benefits to authors and other creators:
Copyright in Ireland is subject to the EU directive 2001/29/EC – Harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society, the essential provisions of which were incorporated into Irish Law via the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 and its amendments including the European Communities (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2004. The 2000 Act has been superseded and modernised by the Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions Act 2019 which also implements some changes recommended by a Copyright Review Committee established in 2011 by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
The duration of copyright depends upon the medium:
The copyright holder is usually the creator of the work, be it the author, songwriter, painter, director, photographer, sculptor etc, though there are exceptions:
These exceptions may or may be explicitly stated in employment and other contracts and something that should be considered before signing a contract.
Copyright holders may transfer their copyright to a third party freely or for payment. The writers of scholarly articles and academic textbooks transfer the copyright of the article to a commercial publisher upon agreement to publish the work, or during some other part of the publication process. This normally prevents sharing or reuse of that work.
Copyright of a scholarly article is not particularly exciting, but what about ownership of The Beatles song catalogue? John Lennon and Paul McCartney founded a company to manage the rights to their songs. In 1969, some corporate wheeling and dealing saw them reluctantly sell their shares to ATV Music, a large music publishing company. In 1985, Michael Jackson bought ATV Music for $47.5 million dollars. After his death, the company was acquired by Sony, who were later successfully sued by Paul McCartney to regain control of the rights of his songs. Copyright is a valuable asset that is often fought over!
