For the purposes of copyright protection, the term “literary and artistic works” is understood to include every original work of authorship, irrespective of its literary or artistic merit. The ideas in the work do not need to be original, but the form of expression must be an original creation of the author. The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Article 2) states: “The expression ‘literary and artistic works’ shall include every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression”. The Convention goes on to list the following examples of such works:
o books, pamphlets and other writings;
o lectures, addresses, sermons;
o dramatic or dramatic-musical works;
o choreographic works and entertainments in dumb show;
o musical compositions with or without words;
o cinematographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to cinematography;
o works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving and lithography;
o photographic works, to which are assimilated works expressed by a process
analogous to photography;
o works of applied art; illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science;
o translations, adaptations, arrangements of music and other alterations of a literary or artistic work, which are to be protected as original works without prejudice to the copyright in the original work.
o collections of literary or artistic works such as encyclopaedias and anthologies which, by reason of the selection and arrangement of their contents, constitute intellectual creations, are to be protected as such, without prejudice to the copyright in each of the works forming part of such collections.
Member countries of the Berne Union, and many other countries, provide protection under their copyright laws for the above categories of works. The list, however, is not intended to be exhaustive. Copyright laws also protect other modes or forms of expression of works in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, which are not included in the list.
However, for more specifying we can say that copyright protects the following categories of creative works:
a) Artistic works
o Paintings
o Photographs
o Drawings
o Engravings
o Sculptures
o Installations
o Cartoons
o Graphic Arts
o Craftwork
o Maps and
o Plans
b) Dramatic works
o Theatre plays
o Choreography
o Screen plays
o Mime
c) Musical works
o Melodies
o Tunes
o Compositions
d) Literary works
o Novels
o Short stories
o Poems
o Song lyrics
o Scripts
o Letters or articles in newspaper
o Reports
e) Sound recordings
o Compact discs (CDs)
o Tapes
o Digital recordings
f) Broadcasts
o Television
o Radio
o Films (short films, feature films, documentaries, corporate or training videos)
Copyright protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture.
In other words, a work of authorship able to be fixed in a tangible medium is subject to copyright protection provided there is some element of creativity to the work to be protected.
Copyright protection gives the owner of a copyright the right to reproduce a work, prepare derivative work based thereon, distribute the copyrighted work, perform any copyrighted work publicly, and display the copyrighted work publicly.
Copyright protects the physical expression of ideas. It is a type of property that is founded on a person’s creative skill and labor. Copyright is designed to prevent the unauthorized use by others of a work, that is, the original form in which an idea or information has been expressed by the creator. As soon as an idea is given in physical form, e.g. a piece of writing, a photograph, music, a film, a web page, it is protected by copyright. It is a set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. Copyright theory says that it is the balance between the exclusive rights and the limitations and exceptions that engenders creativity. Copyright does not protect ideas, only their expression or fixation. There is no need for registration or to claim copyright in some way, protection is automatic at the point of creation. Both published and unpublished works are protected by copyright.
In most jurisdictions copyright arises upon fixation and does not need to be registered. Copyright owners have the exclusive statutory right to exercise control over copying and other exploitation of the works for a specific period of time, after which the work is said to enter the public domain. Uses which are covered under limitations and exceptions to copyright, such as fair use, do not require permission from the copyright owner. All other uses require permission and copyright owners can license or permanently transfer or assign their exclusive rights to others.
The Copyright law provides certain ways in which copyright works may be used without the need to first obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) – these include, fair dealing, library privilege, copying for examinations and copying for instruction. The University also holds a number of licenses, which permit copyright works to be copied and used in various ways. Otherwise, written permission must first be obtained from a copyright holder before their work is used or copied. Infringing the rights of copyright holders may be a criminal offence and/or cause them to sue for damaging.
