Introduction
The Copyright Office Libguides are designed to provide essential copyright and related publication information for staff, faculty and students at the Aga Khan University, as well as aid in internal compliance with the various uses of materials belonging to others.
What is Copyright?
- Copyright refers to the exclusive rights given to a person who creates (an author) a work. The creator can control how their work is used including its reproduction, distribution, performance in public or broadcasting. These are known as the authors economic rights i.e. the right to make commercial gain from their creation.
- Protection of creative works is automatic as soon as the work is created as long as it is original. It is important to note that one needs to express the creative work in a form that can be seen, heard or touched for it to get protection. It is not enough to simply share an idea, that idea must be put down to get copyright protection.
- Although, copyright is automatic upon creation of a work; and nothing more needs to be done, there is a voluntary option to register the work with the government if one wishes to provide proof of ownership.
Authorship and Ownership
- The author or creator of a work usually is the person who first makes the copyright work.
- The author can choose to transfer ownership of their work to another person, who then owns copyright to that work. Transfer is done through an assignment which is a written contractual agreement signed by both parties.
- More than one person can own copyright in one work.
- The author might also choose to grant another person limited rights to their works through a license arrangement. Having a license does not mean you own the work. You can only use the work in a certain way for a limited time.
Works protected by copyright
- Literary works e.g. books, articles, magazines, poems, thesis, scripts, websites and computer programs.
- Dramatic works such plays and choreographic works.
- Musical works and sound recordings.
- Artistic works e.g. photographs, drawings, paintings, maps, charts and sculptures.
- Audio visual works e.g. films.
- Broadcasts e.g. podcasts, news
Duration of protection
The duration of Copyright protection varies depending on the country as copyright laws are country specific.
In Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Pakistan, copyright protection in work lasts for the lifetime of the author/s plus an additional fifty (50) years after the death of the author.
In the United Kingdom (UK);
- Literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works, films and sound recordings lasts for the lifetime of the author plus an extra seventy (70) years after death. Unpublished sound recordings and broadcasts lasts for 50 years after death of the author.
- Typographical material lasts for 25 years.
- Crown Copyright lasts for 125 years.
Copyright Liaison
Need help?
Ext: 2418 | +254 20 366 2418