The concept of copyrighting exists to protect the original work that a person or business has created. As a small business owner, understanding copyright law is essential, as you strive to safeguard your material and ensure you don’t incorrectly use material that belongs to someone else.In this article, small business experts and company formation agent, 1st Formations, look at what small business owners need to know about copyright laws.
Let’s get started.If a piece of work is copyrighted, you can’t do any of the below to that work without approval from the copyright holder (this is often the person who created the work but not always):An individual who performs any of these could be committing copyright infringement.This can be a criminal offence if completed deliberately on a commercial scale.
If done on a smaller scale, it’s categorised as a ‘private right’, and so the copyright holder can generally decide how the matter is handled.For example, they may choose to simply contact the individual and request that they stop, or they could make it a legal matter which typically would start by sending a cease and desist notice.Different types of work you do are protected through copyright.
As set out by GOV.UK, protection is given to:Intellectual property is the term used to describe something that you have created with your imagination.