University of Wolverhampton logo
 Home | About us | Study | Our Schools | Courses | Research | Business | Contacts
University of Wolverhampton homepage About us Study Schools Courses Research Business Contacts
 2) Why is copyright important?
 3) Who owns copyright?
 4) Where does copyright apply?
 5) When does copyright expire?
 6) How can we work within the law?
 7) News / awareness - information and updates
 8) Copyright and Digitisation Co-ordinator

What is copyright?

Copyright protects the rights of anyone who creates, and/or owns, a piece of work – literary (eg books, journals, computer programmes), dramatic, musical or artistic (eg drawings, photos, sculptures), sound recordings, films, broadcasts, and the typographical arrangement of published editions. Any original (ie not copied) work qualifies.

It is a 'bundle of rights' that is a part of the overall family of 'Intellectual Property Rights.' It has two main areas - 'Moral Rights' and 'Economic Rights.'

It means that no-one else may make any form of copy of that work without the permission of the copyright owner or a licence to do so.