Every so often, someone comes along and creates a beautiful sculpture or an interesting usage of an up-cycled product. It would be wise to copyright any product of this sort of venture. Be it from an ethical perspective (if the creation is intended to be free for everyone to enjoy) or a commercial one, the object created could trigger all sorts of copies. A copyright is the best way to ensure protection of the creator’s hard work and to confirm the originality of the project.

WHO OWNS THE RIGHTS?

Generally the creator owns the rights, except if the work was commissioned or created during the course of employment, in which case the rights may belong to the employer or party that initially commissioned the creation.

PROTECTION

Firstly, it is important to define the type of work created, is it literature? Or perhaps digital content or a tangible physical object. Different legal procedures exist for different types of “creation”.

One could call upon the services of a “Notary Public” for a legal and official confirmation of the date on which the original work was created. In the case of a physical object, photographs can be taken of the work and officially and legally certified or validated. The important point to bear in mind here is that notaries have the capacity to legally authorise a document and certify its legitimacy, allowing it to be officially recognised in another country.

This is probably the most straightforward way of proceeding when you need to protect your work. Illegal reproduction of the work, or parts thereof, must be dealt with. It’s not always easy for an artist or creator to engage legal proceedings against a particular individual or company without legal proof. The creator of the work must act quickly to prove ownership of copyright and then allow a legal advisor or individual solicitor to communicate this information in turn to other legal representatives, perhaps in other countries.