Copyright protection in England and Wales is automatically occurring, meaning you do not need to register ownership of copyright material. However, there are steps that copyright owners can take to strengthen their position.
Proving date of creation on copyright materials
The standard rule is that the first owner of the copyright will be the author. The author is the person that created the work which is protected by copyright (subject to meeting the legal requirements for copyright to exist).
In addition to proof of ownership, the proof of the date of creation is important when trying to pursue a copyright infringement claim.
Someone trying to infringe your copyright may claim that they have created the work themselves as an original work an earlier date. They may argue that you are infringing on their copyright, as their original work came first.
It is therefore important that the original copyright holder can prove the date on which their work was created.
You should store key copyright materials in a secure place, including recording any development of these materials which will help to show that they were original works. You should also consider storing any materials with an independent third party.
Stephens Scown offer a secure storage service whereby clients are able to provide materials to us on an annual basis for an annual fee.
Demonstrating your right
You should ensure that all materials you create carry a copyright notice, which includes the name of the person/company who owns the copyright and the date of creation and revisions.
Although this serves no technical legal function, it does give notice to the public that you are treating the material as your copyright material. Having a clear copyright notice will hopefully assist in deterring infringement of that material.
Should you need advice on copyright protection, please get in touch with our Intellectual Property, Data Protection and Technology team by phone 0345 450 5558 or by email enquiries@stephens-scown.co.uk.