Copyright, Moral Rights, and the Right to One’s Image

Abstract

Abstract UK copyright is a right created by statute and is now contained in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA). Copyright is mainly regarded as a means of protecting the economic interests of creators of original works. However, it has a significant role to play in protecting privacy interests. Private correspondence and diaries are obvious examples of material that may attract copyright protection in the domestic sphere. In the commercial context, examples include corporate memoranda, other documents, and recordings containing confidential information. Copyright subsists in various descriptions of ‘works’, such as ‘literary works’, ‘films’ and ‘sound recordings’ and there may be more than one copyright work in any article. For example, a recording may include a ‘literary work’ as well as a ‘sound recording’ for copyright purposes. A copyright work may contain private information or the work may be unpublished and therefore private in that sense. Copyright is apt to protect privacy interests, because it gives the copyright owner the legal right to prohibit reproductions, ie copying, as well as other means of dissemination.