Copyright is a form of property rights and is automatically granted to the author when an original work is created. A copyright holder has exclusive right to do certain things in respect of the work such as the right to exploit (e.g. sell); copy the work as well as the right to prevent other people from exploiting or copying their work without their authority. As per the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528), you have the right to do the following acts:
- to copy the work;
- to issue, rent, or make available copies of the work to the public;
- to perform, show or play the work in public;
- to broadcast the work or include it in a cable programme service; and
- to make an adaptation of the work or do any of the above in relation to an adaptation.
Copyright law in Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, the law governing copyright is the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528). Nine categories of works are automatically protected by copyright are as follows:
- Literary works: These are works expressed in writing, e.g. books, cards, essays, letters, poems, lyrics, tables and manuscripts.
- Musical works: These are written musical scores that are in the form of broadsheets, sheet music or other notation.
- Dramatic works: These are works that are intended to be performed dramatically, e.g. plays, scripts, screenplays, choreographic shows and works of dance and mime.
- Films: These are recordings of moving images regardless of their format, e.g. films, videos, DVDs, VCDs and MPEG files stored on memory chips.
- Sound recordings: These are recordings of sounds (e.g. a person delivering a lecture or reading out a book) regardless of their format, e.g. vinyl records, CDs, tapes and MP3 or audio files.
- Artistic works: These are all works of an artistic nature, e.g. photographs, sculptures, paintings, charts, diagrams, graphs, logos, blueprints and buildings. Works of artistic craftsmanship are also protected, e.g. ceramics, jewellery and embroidery.
- Cable programmes: These are items included in a cable service, e.g. cable TV programmes.
- Broadcasts: These are wireless transmissions of visual images and/or sounds, e.g. radio broadcasts and TV broadcasts.
- Typographical arrangements of published editions: These are typographies and layouts of published works, e.g. books, newspapers and magazines.
As a copyright holder, you are entitled to two types of rights:
- Economic rights
- Moral rights
For more details on the rights of a copyright holder, read our article on “What rights do I have as an author of a work?”
What things cannot be copyrighted?
However, not all things can be copyrighted. These may be:
- Ideas, methods, systems, processes and procedures: E.g. The list of ingredients in a recipe.
- Facts, research and news: E.g. A standard calendar.
- Names, titles, slogans and short phrases: E.g. Nike’s “Just do it” slogan.
- Works that are not fixed in a tangible form of expression: E.g. Extemporaneous speeches that have not been recorded or written down.
- Works that are in the public domain: E.g. Works created by employees of the Hong Kong government.
Key takeaways
- Copyright is an automatic property right granted to the author when they produce an original work.
- The governing law of copyright in Hong Kong is the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528), which protects nine categories of works with copyright.
- An item can be protected by more than one copyright depending on the number of copyright works that it contains.
- However, there are certain things that cannot be copyrighted.
Bibliography:
- Intellectual Property Department, ‘Copyright Protection in the Hong Kong SAR’: https://www.ipd.gov.hk/eng/pub_press/publications/hk.htm