On 13/02/07, Kim Plowright <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
My understanding is that
Thanks for taking the time to explain :-)
- the writer writes the script, which is subject to the usual literary copyright rules - the contract writers are employed under is some kind of a license-to-perform-and-broadcast rather than a complete buyout of everything, to give them long term creative control and a possible long term revenue stream from their creations, and to avoid paying excessive ammounts of BBC license fee money for 'all rights' buyout.
Writers hold copyright for script, BBC gets license for certain uses as part of employment contract. Sure.
- effectively, the writer still owns the 'characters' as they're considered to be 'a substantial part' of the work; copyright applies to parts of works as well as the whole thing.
I understand how copyright applies to parts, not just the whole. To say "owns" implies property, but physical property rights can not be intuitively applied to creative works. So the writer cannot 'own' the charachter, but holds the copyright for any strings of words describing or transcribing the charachter and what they do/say. I'm not sure how this leaps into "copyright of the charachter", as that is just a concept, and patents cover concepts, not copyrights. I understand the charachter's name can be trademarked. But if I want to make a story about a explorer-archeologist with a bullwhip and a brown hat whose Dad is into the Holy Grail, I'm at liberty to do that, as long as I don't call him Doctor Jones. Right?
- the people who designed the daleks were employed by the bbc, and their contracts of employment have a specific clause assigning copyright in all work done for the bbc to the bbc, even though this is covered in copyright law anyway.* - the visual designs are covered by the artitic and designs provision, plus the instantiation from plans in copyright law
I'm unfamiliar with these provisions, but I see they only last for 25 years anyway. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/Ukpga_19880048_en_4.htm#mdiv52
But I am not a lawyer. You'd need to check with a rights professional to verify my understanding.
Sure I understand. Haven't been into nntp://uk.legal for a while :-)
*BBC contracts still contain this clause, irrc. This email is BBC copyright, as it's being written in the course of my work, using BBC tools.
I wish I was being paid to debate this stuff, haha :-D -- Regards, Dave - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
