Approach to costs
Solicitors at Humphreys & Co. always aim to approach
legal work in a financially-disciplined way. We offer
competitive rates. Our charging approach is both transparent
and geared to the options open to our clients. Our
solicitors generally charge by reference to time spent but
we can often agree fixed fees for specific work or in some
cases risk-adjusted funding structures.
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Send us a summary of your circumstances and objectives for a quick response. |
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Copyright
infringement & licensing
Specialist solicitors
with a proven track record in copyright
licensing, assignment and litigation
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Solicitors here are experienced in matters of
licensing, transfer and litigation. We have an
active practice in the protection and licensing
of, as well as litigation about, copyrights and
designs.
These
rights relate to form and appearance rather than to
technical principles of construction. Our solicitors
handle applications for those which are registrable
and advise on unregistrable rights which arise
automatically.
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What
does copyright cover?
If your business
produces any of the following,
they will automatically be
protected by copyright once they
are 'fixed' in some way, eg
written or recorded:
- literary
works, including books,
webpages, computer programs
and instruction manuals
- dramatic and
musical works, including the
music to songs
- artistic
works, including technical
drawings, photographs,
diagrams and maps
- films, videos
and broadcasts, including
those on cable and satellite
- sound
recordings
- databases,
whether paper or electronic
- typographical
arrangement or layout of
publications
Copyright covers every
medium in which a work exists,
including the internet.
Copyright does not
protect:
- names,
titles, slogans or phrases -
though you might be able to
register these as a trade
mark
- products or
industrial processes -
though these may have design
right or be eligible for
patent protection
- ideas
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Copyright
law
The
Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act
1998
Copyright
is the exclusive right of owners
to control the copying and
exploitation of their works by
others. Copyright
law in the UK is governed by the
Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988 (CDPA). The CDPA has been
amended/supplemented several
times to take account of EC
Harmonisation Directives on:
- Computer
programs.
- Copyright
duration.
- Rental rights.
- Databases.
- Copyright and
related rights in the
information society.
- Artists' resale
right.
Further
changes are expected as a result
of the Gowers Review of
Intellectual Property 2006 and
recent advances in digitisation
and the Internet, for example, a
limited private exception for
format shifting. In addition, the
European Commission has proposed
an extension in the copyright
term for sound recordings and
performers from 50 to 95 years,
with the introduction of a new
claim for session musicians of
20% of record labels' offline
and sales revenue.
Works
not idea
Copyright
protects the form in which are
expressed not the ideas
themselves - Baigent
v. Random House (The Da Vinci
Code), Nova Productions v.
Mazooma Games (2007). Section 1 of the CDPA
therefore declares that
copyright subsists in the
following types of works:
- Original
literary, dramatic, and
musical works.
- Artistic works.
- Sound
recordings, films and
broadcasts.
- Typographical
arrangements of published
editions.
Certain
things may be too insubstantial
or intransient to constitute
works. Copyright
could not be claimed in the word
EXXON despite the substantial
resources invested in inventing
it – Exxon (1982). Live performances are
protected by rights in
performances and not by
copyright.
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Infringement
of UK
copyright
Copyright is
infringed by:
- Making
copies of the work.
- Issuing
copies of the work
to the public.
- Renting
or lending the
work to the
public.
- Performing,
showing or playing
the work in
public.
- Communicating
the work to the
public.
- Adapting
the work or doing
any of the above
in relation to an
adaptation.
- Authorising
any of the above
acts.
Civil and
criminal liability
may be imposed on
those who knowingly
deal with infringing
copies of a
copyright work in
the course of trade.
For a
defendant's work to
be infringing – Designers
Guild v. Williams (2001):
(a)
it
must be derived from
the claimant's work. Provided the claimant
establishes
sufficient
similarity in the
features allegedly
copied by the
defendant from the
claimant's work and
that the defendant
had access to the
claimant's work, the
burden shifts to the
defendant to show
that the
similarities are not
the result of
copying;
(b)
the
defendant must take
the whole or a
substantial part of
the claimant's work. Substantiality
is measured in terms
of quality not
quantity. It is a matter of
impression and
depends on the
importance of what
is taken to the
claimant's and not
to the defendant's
work.
An
action for
infringement of
copyright can be
brought by the
copyright owner or
an exclusive
licensee.
Remedies include
interim and final
injunctions,
damages or an
account of profits
and delivery up
and destruction of
infringing
items.
Additional damages
may be awarded in
cases of flagrant
infringement.
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Intellectual
property at a glance
- Patents, trade marks,
copyright, designs and trade
secrets in their national, EU and
international contexts.
- Trade
marks principally indicate the
origin of goods or services. They
can be protected in the UK through
either passing off or
registration. The
choices for registration are a UK
or a Community trade mark or
international registration.
- A registered trade mark
may afford protection against use
of the same or a similar sign for
the same, similar or dissimilar
goods or services.
- Patents confer monopoly
rights in inventions. The
invention must be new, inventive,
capable of industrial application
and not excluded.
- Patents must be licensed
in accordance with the Block
Exemption on Technology Transfer
Agreements. They
may be subject to compulsory
licences and Crown use.
- Copyright subsists in
works not ideas. Related
rights include moral rights and
rights in performances.
- Copyright is infringed by
taking a substantial part of the
claimant's work. Additional
damages are available for flagrant
infringements.
- Database right subsists
in electronic and paper databases
if a substantial investment is
made in obtaining the contents.
- Designs are protected in
UK law by registered and
unregistered design rights. Community
designs co-exist with UK designs
laws.
- Trade secrets may be
protected by a civil law action
for breach of confidence. The
information must be confidential,
imparted in circumstances
importing a duty of confidence and
the defendant must make
unauthorised use of the
information.
- Intellectual
property rights are generally
litigated in the High Court. A
general pre-action protocol sets
out the steps that parties should
follow when considering
litigation.
- Expert
evidence can be the key to success
in intellectual property cases
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What's worth copying is worth protecting
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We offer a fixed charge
initial analysis of your case with options
and recommendations
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Combinations
Solicitors
here can supply the energy and depth in
intellectual property law which companies,
businesspeople and correspondent firms need in
a competitive world marketplace to manage
their intellectual property rights
successfully, including in relation to:
- internet
- joint ventures
- know-how & show-how
- licensing &
franchising
- litigation,
arbitration, mediation
- media & publishing
- patents (licensing,
transfer & litigation)
- passing off
- technology transfer
- trade marks
- unfair competition
- business & company
acquisitions & sales
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- computer software
- confidential
information
- copyrights
- database rights
- defamation &
malicious falsehood
- designs (registered
& unregistered)
- employee obligations
- EU treaty regulations
- free trade
- information technology
- music business
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Accessibility
We take instructions from UK & international clients. Our independent lawyers are available by email, telephone & fax. With central Bristol offices we are just 90 minutes from London by road or rail and 15 minutes from Bristol International Airport. We can travel to meetings if required.
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Independent approach
We are an independent professional law firm here, not a legal factory turning out mass-produced products. In our experience, determined case-handling is more likely to produce effective results.
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Turnaround time
Solicitors at Humphreys & Co. look to input not only
careful legal work and precision but also the determination
to keep matters moving. They aim to work in clients' real
interests with energy and pragmatism.
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Communication skills
Solicitors at Humphreys & Co. always try to open up the
legal process by giving advice and explaining options to
clients in a concise and straightforward way, identifying
clear courses of action whatever the technical or legal
complexities of the subject. |
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