What is copyright
What’s copyright?
If you’ve ever created anything – a story, a song, a piece of art – then you own the ‘copyright’ to it. Copyright is a type of legal protection given to anyone who creates something original. It’s given automatically (this means that you don’t have to apply for it) and means that only you can:
• Make changes to your work
• Give out or sell copies of your work
• Perform or display your work in public.
If someone does any of these things to something you created without your permission, then they’ve ‘breached’ (or broken) your copyright.
Just as copyright ensures that whatever you create remains legally yours, other people who create original work are also protected. This means that you can get into trouble if you take another person’s work without their permission and:
• Make changes to it
• Give it away or sell it to others
• Perform or display it in public
• Say that you created it.
Copyright infringement is a serious crime and can carry legal penalities, so it’s best to play it safe so that you don’t get into trouble!
Remember:
• Always ask the owner of a work before you copy, display, or change it in anyway.
• Never claim to be the owner of a work you didn’t create.
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