1.5 - Identify materials that may be subject to copyright

What materials may be subject to copyright?

Literary materials may be subject to copyright. Materials such as lyrics, manuscripts, documents or articles, contain ideas and concepts that make the materials unique in creation, meaning that these original ideas could be copied or reused. By copyrighting these materials, the concepts and ideas can be protected, stopping them from being reused.

Materials such as Plays and choreography, are also original ideas that can be protected by copyright, to ensure that the original creator is given full credit for their ideas.

Musical materials, such as recordings and scores, can be copyrighted to protect the sound used, such as soundtracks and sound effects, as musical composition and sound recordings are original creations that have to be made specifically for the production.

Artistic materials, such as photographs, paintings, architecture, technical drawings, maps or logos, can all be copyrighted, as these artistic materials have all been created by a designer or artist, and these creators all deserve the original recognition for their designs. This also ensures that their styles, ideas and designs are all protected and cannot be reused without permission.

Published editions, like magazines and articles, can also be copyrighted, as they contain original documents, but also designs, fonts, layouts and photographs, that all need recognition and protection from illegal misuse.  A magazine can contain anything from photography, recipes or narratives, meaning the original creators have put their work into the magazine, and copyright laws can protect their individual materials.

Sound recordings are sometimes individually created for the purpose of being resold to others, who want to use these sounds. By having a copyright law in place, these recordings can be protected from being used for free, and from being distributed without the creator's permission.

Finally, Film materials, such as broadcasts and programmes, contain original ideas and designs, such as plots, characters, and settings, that all can be protected by copyright, so the original concept can be protected from illegal use of these materials.

How has copyright regulation affected your film production?

Copyright has affected the use of materials on our production: To follow the copyright regulation, we have had to create original content for every aspect of the film, including design, script and sound. We have used ideas from folk tales and have created an original script, basing characters from folk tales, from over 70 years ago, making the story, by copyright law, legal to use. If we needed to used sound that had been already created, we could use free legal sites such as freesound.org, but we have created new materials and sound effects. Designs and style has also been invented, as copying designs that already exist is against Artistic material copyright law.