Artistic Copyright

We had a discussion about Artistic Copyright at yesterday's class. and it generated quite a lot of debate! I remembered studying it as part of the HNC Professional Studies Unit but as it's so complicated we were all a little confused...

Points I raised were:

• Who owns the copyright when someone buys a piece of work
• What about companies like istock and Fotolia where you either buy a copy or you can buy an Extended licence etc. You pay more for more copies etc. You can also buy exclusivity for a lot more money. Does this mean all work has the same copyright stance?
• Should we enclose a contract every time someone buys a piece of work stating whether they have the full rights to the work or does it go without saying?
• How small a copy could end you up in jail??
• I'd forgotten the length the copyright lasts for!
  

Obviously copyright is huge and complicated, and is inextricably linked with morality issues


The below is taken from a presentation for my HNC:

Copyright and intellectual property

Q: When a freelance designer undertakes a commission for a client, who actually owns the copyright?

A: Copyright in commissioned work stays with the artist creating the work unless there is a written agreement in which the copyright is assigned to someone else..

Q: If you are an employee of a design company, who owns the copyright on the design work you are employed to create?

A: The first owner of copyright in the work will be the employer
>>> DACS information sheets handed out in class said: "Where works are commissioned or are created in the course of employment different rules may apply and the commissioner or the employer may be the first copyright owner".

Q: Is it possible to create ownership of ideas?

A: No, copyright does not protect ideas.
>>> DACS: "copyright does ot protect idas but the expression of ideas in a material form".

Q: What is the lifespan of copyright ownership?

A: Copyright for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works lasts for the creators life plus 70 years from the end of the year in which he/she died. Sound recordings, films, broadcasts and cable programmes are protected for 50 years from the date of making or the date of release if release occurs within the first 50 years. Copyright in typographical arrangements of a published edition lasts for 25 years from the end of the year in which the edition was first published.

Q: explain the ‘Right to Integrity’

A: This means that an author can object to a derogatory treatment of his/her works. A derogatory treatment is regarded as any addition to, deletion from, alteration to or adaptation of the work which amounts to a distortion or mutilation of the work or is otherwise prejudicial to the honour or reputation of the creator.

Q: Explain the ‘Right of Paternity’

A: This is the right of a creator of a work to be identified whenever the work is commercially published, exhibited to the public or included in a broadcast or film.
>>> DACS: "The integrity, paternity and right to privacy in photographs lasts for as long as the copyright in the work. The right not to have an artwork falsely attributed to you lasts for the life of the author and 20 years after their death".