Intellectual Property Law: Subject Matter of Copyright

Comprehensive practice flashcards defining statutory categories, judicial definitions, requirements, and key case law doctrines regarding copyright subject matter under UK and EU law.

Author's Rights (s. 1(a) CDPA 1988)

The statutory grouping of copyright works protecting original creations of authorship, comprising literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works.

Entrepreneurial Rights (s. 1(b)–(c) CDPA 1988)

The statutory grouping of copyright works protecting commercial investment and media production, comprising films, sound recordings, broadcasts, and typographical arrangements of published editions.

Work (EU Copyright Standard)

Under Directive 2001/29 and C-310/17 Levola Hengelo, a protected subject matter that must be expressed in a manner making it identifiable with sufficient precision and objectivity, free from elements of subjectivity.

Taste of a Food Product (C-310/17 Levola Hengelo)

Subject matter that cannot be classified as a 'work' because it is based on subjective and variable taste sensations depending on the consumer and environment, and cannot be identified with technical precision and objectivity.

Literary Work (s. 3(1) CDPA 1988)

Any work, other than a dramatic or musical work, which is written, spoken, or sung, expressly including a table or compilation other than a database, a computer program, preparatory design material for a computer program, and a database.

Writing (s. 178 CDPA 1988)

A statutory definition encompassing any form of notation or code, allowing literary works to be expressed in words, numerals, symbols, or other forms of notation.

Originality Criterion in Literary Works (University of London Press)

The principle that 'literary work' covers matter expressed in print or writing irrespective of whether the quality of style is high; originality requires authorial skill, labour, and judgment, extending copyright protection even to exam papers.

Intelligible Meaning Threshold (Express Newspapers v Liverpool Daily Post)

The rule that literary works must convey information, instruction, or literary pleasure, though the threshold is very low; satisfied by letter grids used for a bingo competition that conveyed whether a reader had won.

Titles of Works (Francis Day & Hunter v Twentieth Century Fox)

Names of books, films, or plays that are generally regarded as too insubstantial to involve sufficient literary composition to attract copyright protection in themselves.

Invented Names (Exxon v Exxon Insurance)

Single invented words (such as 'Exxon') that do not qualify as literary works, as labour and research expended in word creation cannot compensate for a lack of informative or instructional composition.

Newspaper Headlines (NLA v Meltwater)

Short textual creations capable of constituting independent original literary works because composing headlines requires a discrete, valuable editorial skill to hook the reader and summarize content.

Eleven Consecutive Words Extract (C-5/08 Infopaq)

The rule that copyright has no minimum word count; reproducing an extract of 11 consecutive words constitutes infringement if it contains elements expressing the author's own intellectual creation.

Database (s. 3(1)(d) CDPA 1988)

A collection of independent works, data, or other materials arranged in a systematic or methodical manner and individually accessible by electronic or other means.

Concept of Independent Materials (C-444/02 Fixtures Marketing)

A database criterion requiring constituent data or materials to be separable from one another without their informative, literary, artistic, or other value being affected.

Sui Generis Database Right

A distinct IP right that protects unoriginal contents of a database based on proof of substantial investment in obtaining, verifying, or presenting the contents, explicitly excluding the investment in creating the underlying data.

Computer Program Copyright Protection (s. 3(1)(b)–(c) CDPA)

Literary work protection covering source code, object code, and preparatory design materials, protecting original expression rather than underlying ideas or principles.

Unprotected Software Elements (C-406/10 SAS Institute)

Elements of a software system—specifically program functionality, programming languages, and file data formats—that do not constitute protectable forms of expression.

Dramatic Work (Norowzian v Arks Ltd (No 2))

A work of action, with or without words or music, which is capable of being performed before an audience, including works of dance or mime.

Static Arrangement Exclusion (Creation Records v News Group)

The rule that a static scene lacking movement, story, or action (such as the Oasis album photoshoot around a swimming pool) cannot qualify as a dramatic work.

Performance by Artificial Means (Norowzian v Arks Ltd (No 2))

The principle that a finished, edited film (such as 'Joy') can itself constitute a dramatic work when played before an audience, even if the jump-cut edited movements cannot physically be performed live by a human actor.

Television Format Test (Banner Universal v Endemol)

A TV format can qualify as a dramatic work only if there are clearly identified features distinguishing the show from others of a similar type, connected in a coherent framework capable of repeated application to reproduce the show in recognisable form.

Interactive Computer Games as Dramatic Works (Nova Productions v Mazooma Games)

Interactive games (such as 'Pocket Money') held not to be dramatic works because image sequences depend substantially on player choices, lacking the sufficient unity required to be capable of performance.

Musical Work (s. 3(1) CDPA 1988)

A work consisting of music, exclusive of any words or action intended to be sung, spoken, or performed with the music.

Essence of Music (Hyperion Records v Sawkins)

The combination of sounds intended for listening (as opposed to mere noise), extending musical copyright beyond bare pitch and notes to tempo, dynamics, ornamentation, and performance directions.

Performing Editions Copyright (Hyperion Records v Sawkins)

Original musical works created by applying substantial skill, labour, and expertise to out-of-copyright scores—such as adding figured bass, ornamentation, correcting notes, and reconstructing missing parts.

Artistic Works (s. 4 CDPA 1988)

A statutory category comprising: (a) graphic works, photographs, sculptures, or collages (irrespective of artistic quality); (b) works of architecture; and (c) works of artistic craftsmanship.

Painting (Merchandising Corp v Harpbond)

An artistic object requiring a surface; held that facial make-up painted on human skin (the Adam Ant look) is not a painting because 'paint without a surface is not a painting'.

Copying and Tracing Originality Rule (Interlogo v Tyco)

The rule that skill, labour, or judgment expended solely in the process of copying or tracing cannot confer originality; there must be a material alteration or embellishment of quality rather than quantity.

Photograph (s. 4(2) CDPA 1988)

A recording of light or other radiation on any medium on which an image is produced or from which an image may by any means be produced, and which is not part of a film.

Photographic Originality / Personal Touch (C-145/10 Painer)

The CJEU principle that a portrait photographer stamps their work with a 'personal touch' through creative choices in preparation (background, pose, lighting), execution (framing, angle, atmosphere), and post-production (developing techniques, software).

Sculpture (Lucasfilm Ltd v Ainsworth)

A three-dimensional work requiring artistic purpose; items whose primary function is utilitarian (such as a Stormtrooper helmet costume/prop) or models designed primarily for play lack sculpture copyright.

Sculpture Definition (Metix v Maughan)

A judicial formulation defining sculpture as a 'three-dimensional work made by an artist's hand', excluding purely functional industrial moulds for manufacturing cartridges.

Work of Architecture (s. 4(1)(b) CDPA 1988)

A building or a model for a building, including any fixed structure or part thereof, which is protected without any requirement to demonstrate artistic quality.

Bonz Test for Artistic Craftsmanship (Bonz Group v Cooke)

A two-part test establishing that craftsmanship relates to execution by someone who makes things skillfully with justified pride, whereas artistic relates to design by an author who creates aesthetic appeal.

Machine Involvement in Craftsmanship (Response Clothing / WaterRower)

The principle that mass production or machine use does not preclude a work from being one of artistic craftsmanship, provided the craftsman's creativity is not entirely distanced from the object's creation.

UK vs EU Artistic Craftsmanship Conflict (WaterRower v Liking)

The ruling that s. 4(1)(c) CDPA requires genuine artistic craftsmanship and aesthetic justification, which is irreconcilable with the EU standard (Cofemel) that excludes aesthetic requirements for copyright.

Film (s. 5B CDPA 1988)

A recording on any medium from which a moving image may by any means be produced, with the accompanying soundtrack treated as an integral part of the film.

Sound Recording (s. 5A CDPA 1988)

A recording of sounds, or of the whole or part of a literary, dramatic, or musical work, from which sounds reproducing the work may be produced, regardless of the recording medium.

Broadcast (s. 6 CDPA 1988)

An electronic transmission of visual images, sound, or other information for simultaneous lawful public reception, or broadcast at scheduled times determined solely by the transmitter.

Typographical Arrangement of Published Editions (s. 15 CDPA 1988)

A publisher's copyright protecting the overall page design, layout, and typesetting of an edition, lasting 25 years from the end of the calendar year in which it was first published.

Copyright Duration for Authorial Works

Protection for original literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works that lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years from the end of the calendar year of their death (or the death of the last surviving author in joint works).

Copyright Duration for Films

Protection lasting 70 years after the death of the last surviving person among the principal director, screenplay author, dialogue author, and composer of original music.

Copyright Duration for Sound Recordings

Protection lasting 50 years from the end of the year the recording was made, extending to 70 years if it is published, played in public, or broadcast during that 50-year period.