Copyright—authorship and ownership

Produced in partnership with Joshy Thomas of RPC , Ciara Cullen of RPC and Sarah Mountain of RPC

Practice notes

Copyright—authorship and ownership

Produced in partnership with Joshy Thomas of RPC , Ciara Cullen of RPC and Sarah Mountain of RPC

Practice notes

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) defines the author of a work as the person who created it. The author as creator is not always the owner of a work, although it is usually the case that they are the first owner of copyright unless employed, in which case the employer is (see below).

The identity of the author of a work is relevant to many areas of copyright law. For example, the copyright term is usually measured by reference to the author’s life; an author can claim moral rights; and copyright may not even subsist unless the author has the necessary qualifying status for protection.

It is also important to identify the owner of the copyright work, for example title and ownership should be established before purchasing or taking a licence of a work. Ownership is also important in cases of infringement, as only the copyright owner (or the exclusive licensee) can bring an action against alleged infringers.

Authorship

Authorship in primary and secondary works

For

Joshy Thomas

Solicitor, RPC

Joshy specialises in intellectual property and media law and has a wide range of experience of IP litigation in all areas of IP. Joshy trained at Eversheds, qualifying in September 2000, where she worked for a number of high-profile brands. After six years at Eversheds she worked at Thomas Eggar, where she acted on a diverse range of contentious IP matters before moving to UU��ֱ�� in 2011. Joshy’s expertise at UU��ֱ�� included writing (and updating) core and unique IP and media content and case analysis primarily in the areas of copyright, databases, social media and the internet, digital trade, music, publishing, and film and TV. As a podcast enthusiast she has written, directed and presented podcasts on IP issues. In 2022 she moved to RPC to work as an IP and Tech Knowledge Lawyer.

Ciara Cullen

Partner, RPC

Ciara is a Partner in RPC’s IP & Technology team, co-heads the firm's Food & Drink Group and leads the Retail & Consumer Pillar. Having originally qualified in the Republic of Ireland, Ciara has practiced in the UK since 2013 and has extensive experience in both jurisdictions. Ciara is an IP and technology litigation specialist, acting for a broad range of consumer and luxury brands and clients in the retail, technology, and media sectors. Ciara’s practice also has a significant international element and sees her advising clients on multi-jurisdictional disputes across the full range of IP rights including copyright, trade marks/passing off, patents, design rights, breach of confidence and licence disputes.

Ciara is passionate about IP and regularly speaks on cases and related issues at client and external events. Ciara has been interviewed by Sky News on copyright exemptions and regularly lectures at the IP Law Summer School at Cambridge University. She was co-editor of the TerraLex Copyright Cross-Border Guide for several years and has been recognised as a "Star Lawyer” in the independent Acritas Survey for every year since 2019. Ciara is also recognised as a Next Generation Partner in The Legal 500 UK 2022 (for Retail and Consumer and Intellectual Property: Trade Marks, Copyright and Design) and as an IP Star by Managing Intellectual Property: IPSTARS 2019-2022.

Ciara is recommended in the leading directories as "technically excellent and a fantastic lawyer", "gives consistently good advice, both legally and commercially" and "stands out for being a true business partner and an expert in her field."

Sarah Mountain

Partner, RPC

Sarah is a Partner in the IP and Technology team. With a particular focus on contentious and advisory matters, in the past 12 months Sarah has acted for various of the firm's key clients on strategic litigation and consultations.

Sarah's particular focus is on trade marks, copyright, passing off, designs and confidential information but she routinely supports clients on technology and commercial matters too. She has a wealth of litigation experience, having acted on large scale disputes with both a UK and international focus.

Sarah regularly authors articles on intellectual property and has been published in the Entertainment Law Review, the Distillers and Brewers Journals and Luxury Law. Last year, she presented at the Informa Connect IP Winter Law School on 'Trade Marks in the digital age", with an emphasis on trends within the ecommerce space and is due to speak there again this summer.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Copyright definition

What does Copyright mean?

Any property right over certain creative works, which grants exclusive right to the owner.

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Copyright—authorship and ownership

Produced in partnership with Joshy Thomas of RPC , Ciara Cullen of RPC and Sarah Mountain of RPC