Intellectual Property: Copyright

Copyright is a legal right given to the authors or creators of works. Under copyright law, the copyright owner has a number of exclusive rights including the right to publish the work, control copying, prepare derivative works and perform of their work as well as the right to make the material available online.

Copyright protects the original expression of an idea that has been reduced to a tangible form and this includes transcript copies and copies made in the digital environment, from being copied without authority.

Copyright does not protect the concept or the idea. It also does not protect symbols, titles, short phrases or factual information that may be contained in a copyright work.
Copyright applies to any medium.  This means that you must not reproduce copyright protected work in another medium without permission.  This includes, publishing photographs on the internet, making a sound recording of a book, a painting of a photograph and so on.
Examples of works protected by copyright

• Literary works, including novels, instruction manuals, computer programs, song lyrics, newspaper articles and some types of database
• Dramatic works, including dance or mime
• Musical works
• Artistic works, including paintings, engravings, photographs, sculptures, collages, architecture, technical drawings, diagrams, maps and logos
• Layouts or typographical arrangements used to publish a work, for a book for instance
• Recordings of a work, including sound and film
• Broadcasts of a work
• Ownership of copyright

Who owns a copyright?

The first ownership of a copyright work vests in the person who creates it. However, copyright like any other moveable property can be transferred through sale, licenses and testamentary disposition.  Under the Copyright Law;

1. In the case of two authors, the two shall be known as the joint authors of the work.
2. In the case of works created for hire or works created under a contract of employment, unless otherwise stated in a contract, the employer or the person who commissioned the work shall be the owner of the work.
3. In the case of a film, the principal director and the film producer are joint authors and first owners of the copyright (and the economic rights).  Similar provisions to those referred to above, apply where the director is employed by someone.
4. In the case of a sound recording the author and first owner of copyright is the record producer, in the case of a broadcast, the broadcaster; and in the case of a published edition, the publisher.
5. Copyright in material produced by a Government department belongs to the Government.

How long copyright lasts 

The length of time a copyright work is protected will depend upon the category or type of work.

Literary, musical or artistic work other than photographs
Copyright in the above works lasts for the period of the life of the author plus fifty years.

Audio-visual works and photographs
Fifty years from the end of the year in which the work was either made, first made available to the public, or first published, whichever date is the latest.

Sound recordings
Fifty years after the end of the year in which the recording was made.

Broadcasts
Fifty years after the end of the year in which the broadcast took place.

Once the term of protection of copyright expires, the work falls into the public domain.

For more information on Intellectual Property (Patent, Trademark and Copyrights) get in touch with Viffa Consult Limited at info@viffaconsult.co.ke or victor@viffaconsult.co.ke Tel No +254 723982528/703422760/775578148/786597376