Media Law (6) - notes

Copyright:

• Similar to theft as it is taking someones work and passing it off as your own.
• The person who originally published this work could sue you if they did not grant you or sell you permission to use their work.
• Original act was in 1911 but was updated in 1988 for technological advancements such as photography.
• If it was not for copyright then journalism would not exist: no copyright, no profit.
• Any work you do belongs to you unless you are contracted to give it up or you sell it.
• wages or fees are often substituted for the right of your work
• If you are freelance then you can sell your work for whatever price you please. For example if you get the last photograph of David Beckham before he dies and you are freelance you could sell it for millions. On the other hand, if you are a working for The Sun and you get this photograph, they will sell it for millions. You will get your £100 usual rate!
• It is very important to understand that there is no copyright in ideas or facts and information.
• The Da Vinci Code case:

Dan Brown the author of the Da Vinci Code was sued in 2007 by two authors who claimed to have published a similar story to his some years before. Even though what they were saying was true, the stories were similar, there was no direct lifting from Brown and the judge ruled that there was no copyright in idea of this sort.