Page 80 - Law and the Media

3 Copyright

Mark Cranwell

3.1 Introduction

Copyright is an intellectual property right. Intellectual property rights protect things that are
created by a person’s skill, labour and investment of time and money. The law of copyright
prevents a person from copying the work of another without his permission. It is therefore
the exclusive right to use material in a certain way. The law of copyright protects two kinds
of labour or investment; the labour of the author in his own material, such as articles,
programmes, scripts or songs, and the investment of those who provide the technology
necessary to publish the material, such as newspapers, broadcasts, films or records.

The law of copyright is important to those working in the media. It determines the extent to
which a quotation or the work of a third party can be used in an article or broadcast. It also
establishes the right of a writer, newspaper or television company to exploit his own work
or the work of the company and prevent others from taking benefit from it.

There is no copyright in an idea, nor is there any copyright in news. However, the law of
copyright protects ideas or information expressed in a particular way. Anyone can report the
happening of a particular event. However, a newspaper or programme cannot use verbatim
another newspaper’s report or broadcast another programme’s footage of an event.

The English law of copyright is extremely complex. It is based upon the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988 (the ‘CDPA’) as amended by the Copyright Regulations 1995. The
CDPA consolidated and modernized the existing copyright law, which was found in the
Copyright Act 1911, the Copyright Act 1956 and case law. The CPDA applies to authors in
the United Kingdom, as well as authors from other countries that have given reciprocal
protection to copyright by ratification of the two main international treaties on copyright, the
Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention. Many countries, including the
United Kingdom and the United States of America, are signatories to both conventions.
The International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and
Broadcasting Organizations 1961, known as the Rome Convention, also provides
international protection for performers, broadcasters and authors and producers of sound
recordings. The English courts will only hear a copyright dispute if copyright infringement
has taken place within England and Wales.