On the Bookshelf - Copyright and Creative Works

Click large or small 'A' above. Any text links, unless otherwise stated, will open in new windows.

Copyright protects works such as poetry, web page content, movies, CD-ROMs, video games, videos, plays, paintings, sheet music, recorded music performances, novels, software code, sculptures, photographs, choreography and architectural designs.

To qualify for copyright protection a work must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression. This means that the work must exist in some physical form for at least some period of time no matter how brief. Virtually any form of expression will qualify as a tangible medium including a computer's random access memory (RAM) - the recording media that capture all radio and television broadcasts and the scribbled notes on the back of an envelope that contain the basis for an impromptu speech.

In addition the work must be original - that is, independently created by the author. It doesn't matter if an author's creation is similar to existing works, or even if it is arguably lacking in quality, ingenuity or aesthetic merit. So long as the author toils without copying from someone else the results are protected by copyright.

Finally, to receive copyright protection, a work must be the result of at least some creative effort on the part of its author. There is no hard and fast rule as to how much creativity is enough. As one example, a work must be more creative than simple listing which would involve a straightforward alphabetical listing of names for example rather than a creative selection of listings.

The below image links will open in external new windows. To use the FAE validation process access the image link (below) and insert the URL of this web page.