A Creative Commons licence is a public copyright licence that enables free distribution of a copyrighted work. It is usually used by an author to give others the right to use, share and build upon a work created by the author. A Creative Commons licence can provide flexibility to an author (e.g. choosing to only … Read more
A licence of copyright and an assignment of copyright are different in several ways: Licence of Copyright Assignment of Copyright Definition A licence by which a copyright holder (“licensor”) can give additional copyright permissions to anyone or everyone (“licensee”) in the public. An assignment allows a copyright holder (“assignor”) to transfer their copyright ownership to … Read more
If you have created a work in Hong Kong and the other country concerned is also a member of an international copyright treaty, convention or organisation to which Hong Kong belongs, your work will also be protected by copyright in that country. These treaties, conventions and organisations include: The Berne Convention for the Protection of … Read more
If you see material that you want to use, you should be aware of the possibility that it is protected by copyright. Hence, before you use it, you should find out who the owner is to get permission to use their work. Without permission, the owner may bring an infringement action against you. If the … Read more
A copyright notice is a statement placed on the work (for instance on a website) for the purpose of informing the public that you are the owner of the work and it should not be used without your permission. A copyright notice consists of three parts that generally appear as a single continuous statement: The … Read more
Generally, the period of copyright protection lasts until 50 years after the work’s creator passes away. However, there are some minor differences to this general rule depending on the type of work. Nevertheless, your copyright will expire on the 31st of December of the last calendar year of the period of protection. Specific duration of … Read more
If you have created a piece of work and the work is protected by the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528), you will be entitled to two types of rights: Economic rights Moral rights Economic rights You are allowed to receive financial reward from others for using your work (e.g. via collective management) as well as prevent … Read more
Generally, a piece of work must satisfy two basic requirements to enjoy copyright protection: It must be original: This means that the work must originate from the author but not copied from somewhere else, and that it involves the skill and labour of the author. It must be recorded in a material form: For instance, … Read more
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 … Read more
According to sections 48 and 49 of the Trade Marks Ordinance (Cap. 559), the registration of a trademark will last for 10 years from the filing date of the registration application. If you have registered your trademark and wish to extend the period of protection, you can renew your registration. For each renewal, you will … Read more