What Constitutes Copyright And How Can It Be Protected?

The owner of copyright in a work is by statute given the exclusive right to perform certain specified acts in respect of his or her work or to authorise others to do so and hence to prevent unauthorised persons from performing those acts. Only certain specified categories of works defined in the Copyright Act are eligible for copyright protection.

Only works that fall within the following categories are eligible for copyright protection:

• literary works, irrespective of their literary quality:
• 'literary' works include: novels, stories and poetical works; dramatic works, stage directions, cinematograph film scenarios and broadcasting scripts; textbooks, treatise, histories, biographies, essays and articles; encyclopaedias and dictionaries; letters, reports and memoranda; lectures, speeches and sermons; and tables and compilations, including tables and compilations of data stored or embodied in a computer or a medium used in conjunction with a computer;