Copyright and design protection
Clive D. Thorne · 2020
The most relevant intellectual property rights for architects are copyright and designs. They both protect the expression of ideas. Performing restricted acts without the consent of the copyright owner may not constitute infringement of copyright if a substantial part of the copyright work is not reproduced or a fair dealing defence is available. Copyright came into existence with the invention of printing. The foundations of copyright were in the granting of licenses by the Crown to printers giving them the right to print against the payment of fees to the Crown. The database right can subsist whether or not the database or its contents is a copyright work. The general rule is that the right subsists for 15 years from the end of the calendar year in which the database was completed, and the maker of the database will be the first owner of the database right.