Devon wrote: > Copyright law is different in the US versus Britain, and I don't know > anything about British copyright law. > Is it the case that Miss Channer went through the formal process of > copyrighting the design of the mat? If so at what date?<
In the UK there is no formal process of copyrighting. It's described in full in plain English on: http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p01_uk_copyright_law A couple of important points as far as we are concerned with Miss Channer's Mat, including the fact that copyright for it lasts for 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which Miss Channer (if she designed it) died: 3. Types of work protectedLiterary - song lyrics, manuscripts, manuals, computer programs, commercial documents, leaflets, newsletters & articles etc. (70 years) Dramatic - plays, dance, etc. (70 years) Musical - recordings and score. (70 years) Artistic - photography, painting, sculptures, architecture, technical drawings/diagrams, maps, logos. (70 years) Typographical arrangement of published editions magazines, periodicals, etc. (25 years) Sound recording - may be recordings of other copyright works, e.g. musical and literary. (50 years) Film - video footage, films, broadcasts and cable programmes. (70 years) The Copyright (Computer Programs) Regulations 1992 extended the rules covering literary works to include computer programs. (70 years) 4. When rights occurCopyright is an automatic right and arises whenever an individual or company creates a work. To qualify, a work should be regarded as original, and exhibit a degree of labour, skill or judgement. (Some authors/designers send a copy of their work to themselves or their solicitor by registered post and lodge the sealed envelope with their solicitor before publication to prove it's their work if it never gets published.) 5. Who owns a piece of workNormally the individual or collective who authored the work will exclusively own the work and is referred to as the first owner of copyright under the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. However, if a work is produced as part of employment then the first owner will normally be the company that is the employer of the individual who created the work. (Which would mean Ruth Bean owns the copyright if she employed Patricia Bury to produce the version they published as the supplement to "In the Cause of English Lace".) It also states what is and is not permitted - it's an offence to copy work without the consent of the owner. Use for educational purposes is allowed (but I don't think saying you are using it to learn Floral Bucks would count as educational!) Jean Nathan in Poole, Dorset, UK - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
