Copyright (or author’s right) is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture, and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps, and technical drawings.
A movie, a song, computer software, a book, a painting, a graffiti – at the heart of the intellectual property protection for all these things is copyright, which protects many types of creative work. Copyright gives those who invest the skill and effort to create original work the right to prevent others from copying them. Copyright does not cover ideas and information themselves, only the form or manner in which they are expressed. It arises automatically on creation. It confers a right on the owner to prevent others copying their work. It does not stifle independent creation of works. A person infringes your copyright if they copy your work wholly or substantially.
The owners of creative output are faced with a rapidly changing legal environment as legislators, courts, and tribunals tackle the challenges of copyright in the digital age. Locating infringers can be difficult when content can be instantly copied and transferred across borders.
Exhaustive lists of works covered by copyright are usually not to be found in legislation. Nonetheless, broadly speaking, works commonly protected by copyright throughout the world include:
- Literary works such as novels, poems, plays, reference works, newspaper articles;
- Computer programs, databases;
- Films, musical compositions, and choreography;
- Artistic works such as paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculpture;
- Architecture; and
- Advertisements, maps, and technical drawings.
Protection extends only to expressions, and not to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such. It may or may not be available for a number of objects such as titles, slogans, or logos, depending on whether they contain sufficient authorship.
Achour Law Firm helps in prosecuting and defending cases, protecting rights in works that range from software and books to films and computer games. We plan strategies and carry out successful enforcement campaigns that protect our clients’ intellectual property through civil actions, pre-action injunction applications, customs actions, administrative raids, or criminal actions.
We are able to take action against counterfeiters of digital media applying to the entire supply chain of counterfeit products, including source, transit, and destination countries. We can advise you on strategies for preventing the distribution of copyright-infringing material on the internet, on Digital Rights Management, and on copyright levies.
Our firm is available to advise you on the availability and scope of protection, to handle the registration of works where necessary, and to assist you in securing copyrights in works prepared by your employees and independent contractors. We handle all types of actions, including disputes over digital rights and internet infringements.
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