Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights for its use and distribution. This is usually only for a limited time. The exclusive rights are not absolute but limited by limitations and exceptions to copyright law, including fair use.

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In fact, the subsistence of copyright does not require the work to have an aesthetic value nor to be clever nor very creative. It exists even in an item as simple as a photograph taken by an ordinary person in daily life.

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Copyright is an automatic right. It arises when a work is created. Unlike other intellectual property rights such as patents, trademarks and industrial designs, it is not necessary to register a copyright in Hong Kong, China in order to get protection under the Hong Kong law. In fact, there is no official registry in Hong Kong for registration of copyright works.

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To balance the rights of the owners and society as a whole, there are exceptions in the law. A work will only be infringed if a substantial part is taken. This is a matter of quality rather than quantity. If a musician copies a very catchy musical phrase from another musician's song, there is likely to be infringement even if that phrase is very short.

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Subject to conditions, fair dealing for research and private study; criticism, review and news reporting, for use of works in library and school are permitted. Yet users should still be cautious about possible infringement. Photocopying an unreasonable amount of a book might constitute an infringement, for example.

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The general rule is that copyright lasts until 50 years after the creator of the work dies. However, there are minor variations to this depending on the type of work.

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We can help you with infringement analysis of the copyright.