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How do I protect my work? 4 easy steps to copyright protection.
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style="color:#080445;opacity:0.8;text-align: right;"><em>Protecting your work across the world<br /> and into the future</em></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="catalyst-hl d-none d-md-block" v-scroll="scrollSticky" :data-mobile="mobileNav?'true':'false'" data-collapse="true"> <div class="container"> <div class="row m-0 align-middle"> <div class="catalyst-hl-logo float-left"> <p class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold m-0 p-0"> <a href="/" title="Home">UK Copyright Service</a> </p> </div> <div class="catalyst-nav col align-self-center"> <div class="d-flex justify-content-center"> <div class="catalyst-nav col"> <div class="d-flex justify-content-center"> <ul role="navigation" class="catalyst-nav-mega catalyst-nav-fancyline "> <catalyst-nav-dyn title="Registration" type="megamenu"> <ul> <li><span>Registration</span> <ul class="catalyst-nav-megasub"> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/reg">Register your work</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" 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href="/copyright/intellectual_property">Introduction to IP rights</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/copyright/copyright">Introduction to copyright</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/protect/p15_design_rights">Design rights</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/copyright/international_copyright">International copyright law</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/copyright/questions">Copyright FAQ</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/protect">How do I protect my work?</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/services/info_pack">Information pack</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><span>Fact sheets</span> <ul class="catalyst-nav-megasub"> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/copyright/p01_uk_copyright_law">P-01: UK copyright law</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/copyright/p02_protecting_copyright">P-02: Protecting copyright</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/copyright/p03_copyright_notices">P-03: Using copyright notices</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/copyright/p04_copyright_registration">P-04: Copyright registration</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/copyright/p05_copyright_infringement">P-05: Copyright infringement</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/copyright/p27_work_of_others">P-27: Using the work of others</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/copyright">more fact sheets...</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </catalyst-nav-dyn> <!-- Help / contact --> <catalyst-nav-dyn title="Help/contact" type="megamenu"> <ul> <li> <ul class="catalyst-nav-megasub"> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/services">About the registration service</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/about">About us</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/tags/tag/how%20to%20guides">How to guides</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" href="/tags/tag/frequent%20questions">Frequent questions</a></li> <li><a class="catalyst-nav-link" 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<p>Copyright protection is automatic under international law, but in the event that your work is infringed evidence may be required to support your claim and ensuring the best protection for your work relies on several factors.</p> <p>There are four simple steps you can take that can help ensure your work is safe.</p> </div></div> </div></div></div> </div> <div class="ccm-custom-style-container ccm-custom-style-main-5885 cw_pale_section" > <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-sm-12"> <div class="row"><div class="col-sm-12"> <h2><i class="fas fa-file-signature cw_bigIcon"></i><a href="/copyright/p03_copyright_notices" title="Using copyright notices">1. Ensure your work is properly marked</a>.</h2> <p>A correctly worded notice will deter infringement, as it states that the work is protected under law.</p> <p>Although a copyright notice is not required, (work is automatically subject to copyright protection under law), displaying a notice shows that you have an awareness of copyright and take infringements of your work seriously. It also helps to deter infringement (particularly from those who do not understand copyright) if you make it clear that your work is protected under copyright law.</p> <p>For information on how to word your notice, please see our fact sheet <a href="/copyright/p03_copyright_notices" title="Using copyright notices"> P-03: Using copyright notices</a>.</p> </div></div> </div></div></div> </div> <div class="ccm-custom-style-container ccm-custom-style-main-5889 cw_white_section" > <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-sm-12"> <div class="row"><div class="col-sm-12"> <h2><i class="fas fa-user-lock cw_bigIcon"></i><a href="/reg" title="Register your work">2. Register your work</a>.</h2> <p>If your work is infringed and your claim to copyright is disputed (i.e. in a plagiarism case - where the other party claims the work is theirs), you may need evidence to help prove your claim.</p> <p>This valuable evidence can be provided by our <a href="/reg" title="Copyright registration">copyright registration service</a> that provides verifiable proof of the date and content of your work. As specialists in this area, we ensure that you have the very best evidence to support your rights, while our <a href="/services/provision_policy">service policies</a> ensure that the evidence is always available when you need it.</p> <p>For information on registration, please see our fact sheet <a href="/copyright/p04_copyright_registration" title="Registering copyright work"> P-04: Registering copyright work</a>.</p> </div></div> </div></div></div> </div> <div class="ccm-custom-style-container ccm-custom-style-main-5887 cw_pale_section" > <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-sm-12"> <div class="row"><div class="col-sm-12"> <h2><i class="fas fa-archive cw_bigIcon"></i><a href="/protect/supporting" title="Keep or register supporting evidence">3. Keep or register supporting evidence</a>.</h2> <p>Supporting evidence falls into two categories:</p> <ul> <li>Evolution of ideas <p>This is evidence of the progression of the work. Early drafts, synopsis, rough recordings, sketches, etc. are all evidence that the work progressed over time, rather than being copied from elsewhere. Although it is possible to fake such evidence, it is often time consuming to do so, so it can be fairly good evidence to demonstrate that you created the work from scratch over a period of time.</p> </li> <li>Footprints or watermarking <p>This is normally evidence inserted into finished documents that will identify the author in some way, such as deliberate mistakes, or hidden data that can be read using special applications.</p> </li> </ul> <p>For more details see our page on <a href="/protect/supporting" title="Supporting evidence">supporting evidence</a>.</p> </div></div> </div></div></div> </div> <div class="ccm-custom-style-container ccm-custom-style-main-5891 cw_white_section" > <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-sm-12"> <div class="row"><div class="col-sm-12"> <h2><i class="far fa-handshake cw_bigIcon"></i><a href="/protect/agreement" title="Agreement between authors">4. Agreement between co-authors</a>.</h2> <p>If your work is a joint venture, be sure you know exactly where you stand, who will own what rights, and what happens when someone leaves.</p> <p>For more details, see our page on <a href="/protect/agreement" title="Agreement between authors">agreements between co-authors.</a></p> </div></div> </div></div></div> </div> <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-sm-12"> <div class="row"><div class="col-sm-6"> <div class="ccm-custom-style-container ccm-custom-style-main-5809 p-2 rounded border border-success cw_noprint cw_tags my-4" > <div class="ccm-block-tags-wrapper"> <div class="ccm-block-tags-header"> <h5>Find related pages by topic</h5> </div> <a href="/tags/tag/copyright protection"> <span class="ccm-block-tags-tag label">Copyright protection</span> </a> <a href="/tags/tag/copyright notices"> <span class="ccm-block-tags-tag label">Copyright notices</span> </a> <a href="/tags/tag/copyright registration"> <span class="ccm-block-tags-tag label">Copyright registration</span> </a> <a href="/tags/tag/watermark"> <span class="ccm-block-tags-tag label">Watermark</span> </a> <a href="/tags/tag/contracts and agreements"> <span class="ccm-block-tags-tag label">Contracts and agreements</span> </a> <a href="/tags/tag/supporting evidence"> <span class="ccm-block-tags-tag label">Supporting evidence</span> </a> </div> </div> </div><div class="col-sm-6"> <div class="ccm-custom-style-container ccm-custom-style-main-5805 cw_noprint" > <div class="border border-info p-2 my-4 rounded cw_link"> <p class="p-0 m-0"><i class="fas fa-link"></i> If you find the information on this page useful, please feel free to link to this page.</p> </div> </div> </div></div> </div></div></div></main> <footer id="catalyst-footer" class="catalyst-f"> <div class="catalyst-fu"> <div class="container"></div> </div> <div class="catalyst-fm"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-3"> <p><a href="/services/price_list">Price list</a></p> <p><a href="/services/info_pack">Information packs</a></p> <p><a href="/about" title="About us">About us</a></p> <p><a href="/copyright" title="Fact sheets and information pages">Fact sheets and information pages</a></p> </div> <div class="col-md-3"> <p><a href="/tags/tag/How%20to%20guides" title="How to guides">How to guides</a></p> <p><a href="/tags/tag/frequent%20questions" title="Frequent questions">FAQs</a></p> <p><a href="/common/sitemap">Site map</a></p> <p><a href="/about/news_items">Latest news</a></p> </div> <div class="col-md-3"> <p><a href="/services/provision_policy" title="Our service standards">Our service standards</a></p> <p><a href="/about/security-privacy" title="Security and privacy policies">Security & privacy policies</a></p> <p><a href="/about/cookie" title="Cookie policy">Cookie policy</a></p> <p><a href="/common/copyright" title="Legal notices">Legal notices</a></p> </div> <div class="col-md-3"> <p><a href="/about/contact" title="Our contact details">Contact details</a></p> <p><a href="/about/link" title="Linking suggestions for webmasters">Link to us</a></p> <p>Follow us on<br /> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ukcopyrightservice/" rel="noopener" target="_blank" title="Like/Follow us on Facebook"><i class="fab fa-facebook-square fa-2x align-middle"></i> Facebook</a><br /> <a href="https://twitter.com/UKCS_Copyright" rel="noopener" target="_blank" title="Follow us on Twitter"><i class="fab fa-twitter-square fa-2x align-middle"></i> Twitter</a></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="catalyst-fl"> <div class="container"> <p>Copyright © 2000-2024 Copyright Witness Ltd.</p> </div> </div> </footer> <script src="/packages/corebsp_catalyst/themes/corebsp_catalyst/js/catalyst-v.5d71470113491e277be6.js"></script> <script src="/packages/corebsp_catalyst/themes/corebsp_catalyst/js/catalyst.99201f59910142bdaf1e.js"></script> </div> <script type="text/javascript" src="/packages/cspa_security/js/cspa_security-v.9596c3bb6c088c33a63b.js?ccm_nocache=1f3093d8c37aec2a47f4adabe00aaad4cc453fca"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/packages/cspa_security/js/cspa_security.c7a588750e60fc03b46b.js?ccm_nocache=1f3093d8c37aec2a47f4adabe00aaad4cc453fca"></script> </body> </html>