Copyright

It was Monday morning, and time to fill my mind with ideas of Copyright. My previous conception of which was nothing like what I was about to discover about the subject. Peter Hodges the former head of Copyright at the BBC lead the lecture and immediately produced the idea that copyright allows programmes and ideas to go ahead rather than stopping them as some people believe. It instead provides protection to people who may wish to take designs, music or video from someone, allowing them to be given permission, and eliminating the chance of them breaching copyright laws which prevent this without accreditation from the original creator. Also as the original creator it allows protection of their work from being stolen or taken by someone else. This protection will last their lifetime for the author of a song, whereas the creator of a DVD or video is only protected for 50 years before the copyright ends. Any changes to the song lyrics or music can be prevented by the original creator under this protection.

I was amazed by the extent of items which can be copyrighted. Just by looking at a short video any designs, music, labels, paintings, images, clothes and furniture would all have to be cleared and licensed to prevent any legal action being taken. It was also interesting to see how all these items could be copyrighted, but any ideas from the mind cannot. Any borrowed items which have been borrowed must have the consent of the creator and may involve a cost.     

As Journalists Peter Hodges made it clear that a journalist giving criticism may use 1 to 2 minutes of a person’s material, i.e. a song, giving fair comment, however acknowledgment must be given to the creator of the song. Any current material recorded which the person videoing has no control over, i.e. logos at a football match, is an exemption from the law.  

Infringements to the Copyright law usually involve organised crime, and police have the authority to immediately seize any copyrighted material. Credits at the end or begging of a film are a way of crediting the original creators of any copyrighted material.