User's Guide to Copyright

A User's Guide to Copyright is intended as a guide and a reference work on all aspects of copyright, including ownership, transmission, and licensing. This book also deals with the more straightforward copyright problems that arise and explores copyright law as it applies to certain organizations, businesses, and people for whom copyright plays an important part in their daily life, from publishers and printers to libraries, schools, music industry, film industry, television and radio stations, computer software and firmware, and character merchandising. This book is comprised of 29 chapters divided into two sections and begins with an overview of copyright law, paying particular attention to the basic rules of copyright, statutes and statutory instruments, and Copyright Act 1956. The reader is then introduced to copyright works encompassing literature, drama, music, and the arts as well as sound recordings, cinematograph films, and television and radio broadcasts. The following chapters discuss the concept of originality, breach of confidence, and publication in relation to copyright. Infringement of copyright is also considered, along with exceptions and defenses to copyright actions; the law on industrial designs; and the uses of copyright in fields such as publishing, music, libraries, performing arts, and architecture. This monograph is designed to assist people whose work involves them in day-to-day dealings with copyright.