Works in which Copyright subsists: Literary Works, Dramatic Works, Musical Works

Your friend writes a short story, draws a cartoon to go with it, hums a tune for the trailer, records it on a phone and posts the video. In one evening she has created five different kinds of work, and the Copyright Act gives each one its own definition, its own author and its own rules. What exactly are those categories, and why does it matter which box a work falls into?

In two minutes

Section 13 protects original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematograph films and sound recordings; section 2 defines each class, and the class decides who the author is, which rights apply (s.14) and how long protection lasts.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Intellectual Property Laws on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.