A Note On Copyright

When perusing the web, it can be difficult to work out whether or not we’re breaching copyright when we share, reproduce or download the work of writers, photographers, videographers, musicians et al.

Here are some points to consider when visiting this blog:

• All words and media on this blog are created, owned and therefore copyrighted © by Rosie Pentreath, according to UK Copyright Law.

• According to the UK Government:

Copyright protects your work and stops others from using it without your permission.
You get copyright protection automatically – you don’t have to apply or pay a fee. There isn’t a register of copyright works in the UK.
You automatically get copyright protection when you create:

original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work, including illustration and photography
original non-literary written work, such as software, web content and databases
sound and music recordings
film and television recordings
broadcasts
the layout of published editions of written, dramatic and musical works

You can mark your work with the copyright symbol (©), your name and the year of creation. Whether you mark the work or not doesn’t affect the level of protection you have.

• Copyright prevents people from:

copying your work
distributing copies of it, whether free of charge or for sale
renting or lending copies of your work
performing, showing or playing your work in public
making an adaptation of your work
putting it on the internet

• A note on copyright overseas:

Your work could be protected by copyright in other countries through international agreements, for example the Berne Convention.
In most countries copyright lasts a minimum of life plus 50 years for most types of written, dramatic and artistic works, and at least 25 years for photographs. It can be different for other types of work.

• Please refer to the UK Copyright Law fact sheet from the UK Copyright Service or this handy summary for further information.