I am thrilled to contribute this article to Copywrite Matters – it seems a perfect match. My company offers intellectual property services, which covers copyright and related matters and obviously Copywrite Matters provides copywriting services. We’ve discovered that we are each asked about the other copywrite/copyright by our clients. So, it seemed a good time to set the record straight.
Copywriting
The use of words to promote a person, business, opinion or idea regardless of media;
Copyright
The exclusive right to make copies, license and otherwise exploit literary, musical, dramatic and artistic works;
Yep – that’s right the exclusive right to do these things. That means others cannot copy, license or exploit your copyright without your permission.
You could say that “Copyright” is the right to copy something when you are the owner or creator of that ‘work’ and Copywriting is the writing of copy to promote ‘things’. As you can see they are two quite different things. It would be uncommon for a copywriter to provide advice about copyright and likewise, unusual for a person in the IP field to act as a copywriter when giving copyright advice.
Copyright for Your Copywriting?
Yes. Copyright is an automatic right granted to the author/creator of certain works (such as literary, musical, dramatic or artistic works). You do not have to register copyright and you do not have to pay anyone any money to be recognised as the owner – it’s yours because you created it. Written copy would be seen as a literary work and therefore protected under Copyright Laws (such rights happen to extend through most countries around the world).
In situations where you contract a copywriter you might sign an agreement with them before work commences and this agreement may discuss who owns the copyright in the copywriting work. If there is no agreement about this then generally the copywriter will retain ownership of the copyright and would need to ‘assign’ those rights to you in order for you to be recognised as the owner.
Some examples?
Sure. You might engage the services of a copywriter to help you with:
Each of the above is the sort of thing that can be protected as copyright and the owner gets to choose who can/cannot use it and under what terms. You’ll probably have noticed at most websites you visit a copyright notice is displayed somewhere in the footer of the site? Or that any EBook you download and read will show a copyright notice (as do ‘old fashion real books’ for that matter).
Where you have created the content, or, your contracted copywriter acknowledges you are the copyright owner in that content then you are automatically entitled to display an appropriate copyright notice. For example, © COMPANY NAME 2012.
Using Other People’s Copyright
Get permission. There are limited circumstances where it’s ok to use someone else’s copyright without permission. And, this can be dependent on the type of copyright you wish to use. It is ok to use someone else’s copyright for the purpose of ‘fair dealing’ – which basically means you can use it if you are reviewing/criticising the works (such as a movie reviewer), for the purpose of parody or satire or for reporting the news.
There are also special exceptions in place that allow libraries, educational institutions and government institutions to use other people’s copyright without permission and without fear of infringing those rights.
What if Someone is Using your Copyright?
Well, if it’s truly yours then you have the right to decide if it’s ok for someone else to use it or not. Copyright Infringement (generally) occurs if someone uses your copyright works, or a substantial part thereof, without your permission and does with it one of the ‘acts’ that’s exclusively yours, such as the copying, reproducing or exploiting. A substantial part does not have to be a large part, but is more so an ‘important’ part of the work.
You might have heard about the case with Men at Works’ “Land Down Under” song, which used a flute tune that turned out to be the same as “The Kookaburra Song”? Well, this was considered copyright infringement because the tune used was seen as a ‘substantial part’, even though it was not the whole tune of the original song, nor was it a large part of the newer song.
If you believe your copyright is being infringed, it’s always best to seek advice and do so before you make any threats or allegations at the person. (You can actually be sued if you make a ‘groundless threat’ against someone for a breach of the law!).
Fact or Fiction?
There’s a popular belief out there that if you change someone’s copyright by “10%” then it is fine and you can’t be found guilty of infringing their copyright. Not true. There is no set percentage of change that guarantees safety. It will always come down to whether you’ve used a substantial part of the ‘works’ or not. So, things like paraphrasing and rewording sentences of someone else’s work is not a guaranteed way to escape action against you. My tip here – hire an experienced Copywriter to ensure your work is your copyright and not infringing someone else’s!
Need more information?
If you’re after more information about Copyright then I encourage you to visit the Australian Copyright Council’s website. They have a great range of fact sheets about copyright based on the type of ‘works’ you need to protect or the industry you are in.
Who am I to tell you all this?
Well, I’m Jacqui Pryor, director of Mark My Words Trademark Services. I have over 13 years of experience in Australian and International trademark matters and we aim to provide affordable, friendly and reliable services. Click here to receive your free trademark search.
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3 Responses
Nice post. There’s so much confusion around copyright matters – this is very helpful.
Thanks for sharing the info in this article. I’ve often wondered about Copyright and how it works but now I know!
Me too Mel. I had some vague notion of it but it was great to get a full explanation (with an example too).
PS Thanks for commenting 🙂