Craft Focus - Page number 86 - October/November 2021 (Issue 87)

86 Clued up on Copyright Dids Macdonald, CEO of Anti Copying in Design (ACID), reviews IP rights in the giftware sector Often, the complexity of IP law can be a barrier to better understanding but here, we hope, is a relatively simple overview of some of the rights that will affect creators in the giftware sector. It pays to become a little IP savvy! We asked Kelly Hudson, a Director of ACID legal affiliates McDanielsLaw, to explain the laws that are important. Kelly said, “The Copyright, Design & Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) is the current legislation that governs the intellectual property rights of copyright and design right. Copyright and design right are two separate intellectual property rights that exist on the creation of a work and/or design if certain criteria is met pursuant to the CDPA. Unlike many intellectual property rights that exist, such as patents and registered design rights, copyright and design right arise automatically on creation. There is no formal registration process needed to protect your work and/or design. There are some clear overlaps between both copyright and design right.” What is copyright? Copyright can arise in several different types of original works, including literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic works, as well as films, sound recordings, databases, photography, and broadcasts. The rights conferred vary depending on the type of work created. Copyright will subsist in an artistic work and a work of artistic craftsmanship where the work is original, meaning that it needs to have been created with skill, judgement, and individual effort by the author(s). It cannot have been copied from a prior work. How long does copyright last? Copyright gives protection to the author(s) of an original work of artistic craftsmanship for the duration of 70 years plus the life of the author. Copyright protection also gives the author(s) of a work of artistic craftsmanship the exclusive right to copy the work, issue copies of the work, to rent or lend the work or to adapt the work. Who is/are the author(s)? Copyright will vest in the person who created the work. If more than one person created the work and each individual part of the work cannot be distinguished, this will be a work of joint authorship. It is important to remember that if you are an employee, unless your contract says otherwise, it is likely that any work created through the course of employment will belong to the employer. Copyright infringement A person infringes copyright in a work if a person does anything that is the exclusive right of the author as mentioned above, and what they have done is a copy of the whole or substantial