Plagiarism is a very ugly matter and because some of you will be entrusting your images and literature to Dark Cloisters here's a bit of something I thought you all would like to know, in respect to your rights as far as your work is concerned.
Ownership and duration of copyright
The general rule is that the author is the first owner of copyright in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work. In the case of films, the principal director and the film producer are joint authors and first owners of copyright. The main exception is where a work or film is made in the course of employment, in which case the employer owns the copyright. The copyright in sound recordings, broadcasts and published editions generally belongs to the record producer, broadcaster or publisher.
Do I need to register copyright?
No. Copyright protection in the UK & US is automatic and there is no registration system - so there are no forms to fill in and no fees to pay.
Can copyright be transferred to someone else?
Yes. Copyright is a form of intellectual property and, like physical property, can be bought and sold, inherited or otherwise transferred. A transfer of ownership may cover all or only some of the rights to which a copyright owner is entitled. First or subsequent copyright owners can choose to license others to use their works whilst retaining ownership themselves.
But if I own something, doesn`t that make me the copyright owner?
No. Copyright exists independently of the medium on which a work is recorded. So if, say, you have bought or inherited a painting, you only own any copyright in it if that also has been transferred to you.
How long does UK/US copyright last?
Copyright in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (including a photograph) lasts until 70 years after the death of the author. The duration of copyright in a film is 70 years after the death of the last to survive of the principal director, the authors of the screenplay and dialogue, and the composer of any music specially created for the film. Sound recordings are generally protected for 50 years from the year of publication. Broadcasts are protected for 50 years and published editions are protected for 25 years. For copyright works created outside the UK/US or another country of the European Economic Area, the term of protection may be shorter. There may also be differences for works created before 1 January 1996.
Is there any protection after copyright expires?
If a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or film for which the copyright has expired has never been made available to the public, it may be protected by publication right. This is granted automatically to the first person to make a relevant work or film available to the public within the European Economic Area, lasts for 25 years from the time of making available, and gives rights broadly similar to those given by copyright.
This document is based on Crown Copyright © 2007
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Copyright notices
Use of a copyright notice — consisting of the letter C inside of a circle (that is, "©"), the abbreviation "Copr.", or the word "Copyright", followed by the year of the first publication of the work and the name of the copyright holder — was part of previous United States statutory requirements. (Note that the letter C inside of parentheses ("(c)") has never been an officially recognized designator.) But in 1989, the U.S. enacted the Berne Convention Implementation Act, amending the 1976 Copyright Act to conform to most of the provisions of the Berne Convention. As a result, the use of copyright notices has become optional to claim copyright, because the Berne Convention makes copyright automatic.[1] However, notice of copyright (using these marks) does have consequences in terms of allowable damages in an infringement lawsuit in some places.
It is important to understand that absence of the copyright symbol does not mean that the work is not covered by copyright. The work once created from originality through 'mental labor' is instantaneously considered copyrighted to that person.
The phrase All rights reserved was once a necessary formal notice that all rights granted under existing copyright law are retained by the copyright holder and that legal action may be taken against copyright infringement. It was provided as a result of the Buenos Aires Convention of 1910, which required some statement of reservation of rights to grant international coverage in all the countries that were signatory to that convention. While it is commonplace to see it, this notice is now superfluous, as every country that is a member of the Buenos Aires Convention is also a member of the Berne Convention, which hold a copyright to be valid in all signatory states without any formality of notice.
This phrase is sometimes still used even on some documents to which the original author does not retain all rights granted by copyright law, such as works released under a copyleft license. It is, however, only a habitual formality and is unlikely to have legal consequences.
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All artist ... please put your stamp on your images before posting them anywhere ... in Paint Shop Pro .... clicking on text, which brings up a text box. Using a font that allows it... just do the following. Alt+0169 = © - this should be in the center of, Copyright©2007, artist name - and then however you wish your logo.
The more people who KNOW that a specific work of art is YOURS the more PROTECTION your work of art has! Circulate your work, Protect it. If no one knows, who can stand up for you and say, I happen to know this work is his/hers?
