Licensing your copyright

As a copyright owner, it is for you to decide whether and how to license use of your work.

An exclusive license could be granted, but remember that this enables the licensee to use the copyright work to the exclusion of all others, including the copyright owner. Any license agreed can relate to one or more of the economic rights and can also be limited in time or any other way. It is a contractual agreement between the copyright owner and user. Sometimes people may be able to argue that a copyright work is subject to an implied license even when there has been no agreement about a license.

Some people prefer to allow limited access to their work without charge. One way to do this is by using a Creative Commons License .

Implied License
An implied license to use a copyright work might arise when there is nothing in writing granting you a license and you have not even agreed a license verbally with the copyright owner. However it is always better to ensure that any agreement about a license is recorded in some way.

You will only be able to argue that you have an implied license where all the circumstances suggest that the copyright owner expected you to use his or her copyright material in the way you are going to use it, even though this was never discussed and has not been written down anywhere.

Contractual agreement
Unless a copyright owner is the only person going to use his or her copyright work then contracts are likely to be agreed at some point about the copyright work. General law such as company law and competition law may govern what is acceptable in a contractual agreement. A copyright owner may wish to seek advice from a lawyer, perhaps one specializing in copyright and contract law, before proceeding.

Contractual agreements are likely to be important when a copyright owner:

needs a partner to help exploit the copyright work;
wishes to negotiate the sale or other transfer of the copyright;
would like to agree a license with someone else who wants to use the copyright work;
would like someone else, such as a collecting society, to administer some or all of the economic rights.
In some cases it might be important to obtain an agreement/contract of confidentiality while negotiating copyright matters, especially if the work has not been published.

Copy protection devices
For copyright material issued to the public in an electronic form, you may decide to use technical measures so that it is not possible to make a copy of your material, that is, it is copy-protected.

It is also possible for you to use other technological measures to prevent other types of illegal uses of copyright material.

Where you have sold copies that are protected by technical measures, you may have the right to take action against a person who gets round or who makes, sells or otherwise deals in devices or means specifically designed or adapted to get round, the technical measures.

The right to take action is equivalent to the rights you have when suing for infringement of your copyright in the civil courts. Criminal offenses may also apply to those who deal in the means to get round technical measures.

Copy protection devices
For copyright material issued to the public in an electronic form, you may decide to use technical measures so that it is not possible to make a copy of your material, that is, it is copy-protected.

It is also possible for you to use other technological measures to prevent other types of illegal uses of copyright material.

Where you have sold copies that are protected by technical measures, you may have the right to take action against a person who gets round or who makes, sells or otherwise deals in devices or means specifically designed or adapted to get round, the technical measures.

The right to take action is equivalent to the rights you have when suing for infringement of your copyright in the civil courts. Criminal offenses may also apply to those who deal in the means to get round technical measures.