What material does copyright cover?
Copyright protection covers two broad categories of subject matter: "works" and "subject matter other than works".
Works is further divided into:
- literary works (eg novels, poems, essays and computer programs etc);
- dramatic works (eg dances, plays and screenplays etc)
- musical works; and
- artistic works (eg paintings, cartoons, sculpture, photographs etc)
For a work to receive copyright protection it must be 'original' and it must be 'reduced to material form'. The originality requirement requires only that the author of the work has used some skill, ingenuity and labour in making the work; not that the thought or idea embodied in the work be novel or new. Copyright protects the expression of the thought, not the originality of the thought or idea. Until a work is 'reduced to material form', there is nothing for copyright protection to attach to. A speech given extempore, for example, would not attract copyright protection. A written speech, on the other hand, would be protected as a literary work.
"Subject matter other than works" is divided into:
- sound recordings;
- cinematographic films;
- television and sound broadcasts; and
- published editions of works.
The copyright in each of these 'non-works' exists independently of the copyright in any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works recorded in them. This is important when considering obtaining permissions from copyright owners. A television broadcast of a film, for example, attracts its own copyright. So too does the cinematographic film that is broadcast. The film will also usually contain sound recordings and dramatic works (such as the scenario or script) which are in themselves the subject of copyright. This means that the copying of a film that is broadcast on television might infringe the copyright of many different owners.
