Reading a novel; listening to a CD; celebrating Mass. If you
do anything which involves using the product of someone
else’s creativity, you are using their property. Say you have
bought the novel, the CD, the Missal. You possess, quite
legally, copies of another person’s creative work as your own
physical property. Yet you have not bought the right to do
what you like with the creative work itself.
The law grants people ownership of their original ideas
and imagination as intellectual property. The owner of an
intellectual property can control its use and derive an income
from it. Without these rights, would much creative work be
done? In the case of literary and artistic works, these rights
are called copyright.
The purpose of this guide is to help you follow good practice
when using copyright material in the celebration of the
liturgy and in non-liturgical events. Good practice means that
copyright holders are treated fairly and that you are acting
legally. This guide will give you clear advice about which
permissions you might need.
What is copyright?
Copyright is a property right. Its subject is the intellectual
property belonging to the originators of:
literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works;
sound and visual recordings, films and broadcasts;
the graphical format of published works.
Copyright is an automatic right, given when the created
material is recorded in some form. It does not have to be
registered.
The owner of the copyright of a work has exclusive rights
concerning the public use of that work. These include the
right to:
- - copy and distribute the work;
- - rent or lend it;
- - perform or show it;
- - communicate it in any way;
- - adapt or arrange it.
The law protects the economic rights of the originators of
works (and their dependants and heirs). It ensures income
from the copying and performing of their works.
The law upholds the moral rights of the originators of
works:
- - it protects them from plagiarism;
- - it asserts their right to have their work correctly attributed to themselves;
- - it safeguards them from their work being presented in a derogatory manner.
How long does copyright last?
For literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works (including
photographs taken after September 1989): 70 years after the
death of the originator.
For films and visual recordings: 70 years after the death of
the last surviving originator (director, authors, composers).
For sound recordings: 50 years after the release date (or
date of recording if never released).
For graphical copyright: 25 years from the date of publication.
Copyright expires after these times and the work goes into
the public domain. But an edition or an anthology might
still be in copyright. For example:
- - a modern anthology of 19th century poems;
- - a modern edition of a J S Bach cantata.
Who owns a copyright?
There are two distinct copyrights to consider in published
works:
- the copyright of the work;
- the graphical copyright.
In general, it is likely that the originator of a work owns the
copyright. Yet the ownership of intellectual property, like that
of physical property, can be transferred or sold. An originator
might have transferred their copyright to the publisher. Read
the copyright notice to find out who owns the right.
You buy a CD...
You do own the disk and its packaging.
You do not own:
- the composer’s music;
- the musicians’ performance;
- the writer’s text;
- the designer’s artwork.
Graphical copyright means the way the publisher has designed
and set out the pages. The publisher owns this copyright.
Unpublished works receive the same protection in law as
commercially published material. An original manuscript of a
work secures the copyright of that work in the law of the United
Kingdom, whether or not it displays a copyright notice.
For a work to receive full protection under both United
Kingdom and international law, it should display a copyright
notice using the © symbol:
My Song Title, copyright © 2006 My Name. All rights reserved.