Copyright

©

Type Alt+G (For Macs) 

Type Ctrl+Alt+C (For PCs).

Copyright gives the owner, creator or author, publisher the right to control the way that their material can be used. All works in the UK however will automatically be covered by the Copyright Design and UK Patents Act of 1998. You should not copy, adapt, distribute (Electronically or otherwise), publicly transmit (Including on demand, live or broadcast), publicly perform, rent, lend without prior or express permission. Copyright can be transferred, or sold to another party. Buying a game, or a painting does not mean that you own the copyright from then on. Those rights need to be LEGALLYtransferred. UK copyright is however automatic with no form of manual registering required. Copyright duration vary, for literary and dramatic, artistic and photographic works, it lasts for the owner's life time + 70 years, while sound recordings last for 70 years (Which Cliff Richard had managed to raise up from 50 in 2011).

To get permission, you can contact the owner directly (If known), or contact the organization or company who represents them (Eg, Record company or in the PRS (Performing Rights Society) for music). You don't always have to seek permission to use work, but you obviously should if it's for commercial purposes. To claim copyright over something, for those within the UK, it is automatic. But for works that are displayed internationally (For example a website), it is advised that you mark your website or your work with ©YourName and Year of Publication. To prove that you originated a piece of work, if it happens to be a design or piece of artwork, leave or deposit it with a bank or solicitor. Post it to yourself with a date stamp on it, at the very least it proves that it existed at a particular point in time. International Copyright Laws are often different to the UK, so mark up the footer of your webpages with the ©YourName and Year of Publication. Any legal action would take place in the country where the infringement took place. Finally, you should also be aware of some of the terms and conditions of social networking and image hosting sites as they may claim ownership over anything you may do. This may all seem really troublesome and disheartening, but don’t let this prevent you from sharing your work. This is a complex area in law and if in doubt seek advice from a professional in this area.

Alternatives to Copyright

Copyleft is a form of licensing and can be use to maintain copyright conditions for works such as computer software, documents and art. An author may give every person who receives a copy of a work permission to reproduce, adapt or distribute it and require that any resulting copies or adaptations are also bound by the same licensing agreement. These licenses (for software) require that information necessary for reproducing and modifying the work must be made available to recipients of the executable. The source code files will usually contain a copy of the license terms and acknowledge the author(s). They are a novel use of existing copyright law to ensure a work remains freely available. Creative Commons was founded in 2001 by Lawrence Lessig, creative commons is a non-profit organisation that provides a legal framework to allow people to share, remix, reuse legally. In short, these licenses provide a simple, standardized alternative to the "All Rights Reserved" paradigm of traditional copyright.

Unlike the "All Rights Reserved" license, there are different layers or levels of license the the owner can apply:

The Attribution By CC By License lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials. The Attribution ShareAlike License lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to “copyleft” free and open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. The Attribution - NoDerivs license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you. The Attribution - NonCommercial license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they do not have to license their derivative works on the same terms. The Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commericially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.

And finally, the Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs license is the most restrictive of the six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.