Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/246967
Protecting IP Section 3 Copyright There are no special formalities required to protect your work in the UK. This is not always the case in other countries. The good thing about copyright is that it arises automatically and it is free! However, as there is at the moment no register to refer to, this sometimes makes it difficult to prove ownership. Some practical tips to help overcome this and protect copyright are set out below: Practical tips Keep all originals of your copyright work such as notes, drafts, sketches, drawings, videos etc. in a secure place. Record the date you created the copyright work: a good way to do this is put the work in an envelope, post it to yourself or somebody independent, such as a solicitor, and leave the envelope unopened. The postal stamp can be used to demonstrate the date before which it had been created. © Place a copyright notice (for example, © J.Bloggs 2014 or © University of Knowledge 2014) on the piece of work which will act as a useful reminder to anyone using the work that copyright exists and that action may be taken. Try inserting some irrelevant but intentional mistakes or anomalies in your work (e.g. a repeated line of source code, or an unusual spelling mistake). This can be a good way of illustrating that someone has copied your work if their work also includes the same mistake or anomaly. Protection of work on the internet is more tricky as it is extremely difficult to police the internet effectively. Therefore, don't publish anything on the internet that you or your university/institution would not wish to be copied. Perhaps just publish excerpts, and leave people to come back to you for the main work. 20