Prose, poetry, tables, compilations, songs (lyrics), computer programs, databases.

Musical notation.

Plays, scripts, screen plays, mime, choreography.

Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Jewellery, Graphics.

s.6(1) of the Act defines a broadcast in technologically neutral terms as ‘an electronic transmission of visual images, sounds or other information which –

Ordinary television and radio broadcasts, whether terrestrial, satellite or cable, are included here. The phrase ‘at a time determined solely by the person making the transmission’ is designed to exclude ‘on-demand’ transmissions from the definition of ‘broadcast’. It is important to note that the content of the broadcast programme can include works protected by copyright for a longer period than the broadcast itself; e.g. artistic, literary, musical.

Musical CDs, MP3 files, talking books. It is important to note that the content of the sound recording can include works protected by copyright for a longer period than the sound recording itself; e.g. literary, dramatic

A recording on any medium from which a moving image may by any means be produced, which of course includes video. Under s.5B(2) of the Act the soundtrack to a film is treated as a part of the film itself. Please note that a film which contains dance or mime will of itself be a dramatic work irrespective of the independent copyright status of the film itself.

This form of copyright is designed to protect the publishers of works who do not benefit from the copyright in the literary work, either because the copyright belongs to the author, or because the work does not have copyright protection. Therefore, if a publisher chose to publish a new edition of a literary, dramatic or musical work which was out of copyright, the publisher could not prevent any other person from publishing that work, but would, under s.1(1)(c) of the Act, have the right to restrain the copying of his own edition.

Performance can mean a dramatic or musical performance and includes a reading or recitation of a literary work, so these provisions benefit not just musical artistes and musicians but other performers such as actors, poets, authors and comedians.

There are 2 types of design rights in the UK – registered and unregistered design rights. A registered design right gives you a monopoly over the design, whereas an unregistered right only gives you the ability to prevent others from copying your design. This means that the scope of protection of an unregistered design right is lower than that of a registered design.

Database Regulations introduced the database right distinct from copyright protection. This was designed as an economic right to protect the investment made in a database which could not benefit from copyright protection (no skill or judgement in selection, or arrangement of content would not satisfy high test of originality). For example, database rights would subsist in a telephone directory, whilst a Thompson Yellow Pages would be protected both as a database and as a literary work. If you want to know more about databases, please read: Databases.