Copyright Laws

What is Copyright?

Copyright gives the creators of some types of media rights to control how they're used and distributed. This means whatever content the author created cannot be used or published by anyone else without the consent of the author. The length of copyright protection may vary from country to country, but it usually lasts for the life of the author plus 50 to 100 years.

Many different types of content can be protected by copyright. Examples include books, poems, plays, songs, films, and artwork. In modern times, copyright protection has been extended to websites and other online content. Therefore, any original content published on the Web is protected by copyright law. This is important in the digital age we live in, since large amounts of content can be easily copied and pasted.

 

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Copyright law

Limitations imposed by copyright
When you buy software, for example, copyright law forbids you from: giving a copy to a friend making a copy and then selling it using the sotware on a network (unless the licence allows it) renting the software without the permission of the copyright holder

The law that governs copyright in the UK is called the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Prevention of software piracy

Software companies take many steps to stop software piracy: An agreement between the company that developed the software and the user must be agreed before the software is installed. This is called the license agreement and covers copyright. Certain pieces of software require a unique licence key to be entered before the installation will continue. Some applications or programs will only run if the media (CD / DVD) is in the drive. Some applications or programs will only run if a special piece of hardwarecalled a dongle is plugged into the back of the computer.

The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST)

FAST was founded in 1984 by the software industry and is now supported by over 1,200 companies. It is a not-for-profit organisation with an aim to prevent software piracy and has a policy of prosecuting anyone found to be breachingcopyright law.

FAST also works to educate the public about good software practice and legal requirements.

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