ALISON SARSFIELD-HALL, a partner at solicitors Oxford-based Morgan Cole, considers the implications of copyright law for businesses.

The appearance of author Dan Brown in the High Court facing allegations of plagiarism in relation to his best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code, and the possibility of Prince Charles being cross-examined over the contents of his journals, have put copyright law on the front pages.

Copyright has been protected in the UK since 1709, although the current law was more recently encoded in the Copyright Design and Patent Act 1988, which gives protection for literary, artistic and dramatic works.

While the implications of copyright law for the creative and computing industries as a piece of software is given special status as a literary work may be obvious, its application in more everyday business fields is often misunderstood.

Copyright arises automatically, meaning that in the UK there is no need for it to be registered.

In fact, many of the factors that are considered to see whether copyright has arisen formed the basis of argument in the High Court concerning the work of Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh.

These were two of the three authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, from which Dan Brown was alleged to have stolen several central themes.

  • What does the law actually protect? It is often said in the copyright world that there is no copyright in an idea. What this actually means is that ideas themselves cannot by protected, but the manner in which they are expressed, whether in written words, or some other form of media, can be.

Baigent and Leigh were not able to convince the court that what Dan Brown had allegedly stolen' or plagiarised' was not just their ideas, but a substantive part of how those ideas were expressed in their book.

It would also be necessary to show that a sufficient level of labour, skill and judgment went into the creation of a particular work, or those parts which were allegedly copied.

This is not to say that the High Court may at some point in the future compare Prince Charles' journals to Shakespeare's works, or consider whether the ideas propounded by Baigent and Leigh are correct. It will merely assess whether there has been a sufficient level of hard work justifying the benefit of copyright.

  • Originality Copyright only protects original works. If someone has actually copied their work from those publicly available they cannot gain copyright.

In respect of The Da Vinci Code, it was alleged that many of the ideas appeared in Holy Blood, Holy Grail years earlier.

  • How is copyright infringed? Copyright is infringed if the owner can show that another party has copied a substantial part of the copyright work.

Mere similarity is not enough, and it would be necessary for Baigent and Leigh to show that Dan Brown, or his chief researcher, his wife Blythe, had actually read Holy Blood, Holy Grail and copied ideas directly from it.

They would then have needed to show that the manner in which these ideas' are expressed in The Da Vinci Code was substantially the same as their original work.

  • How does copyright law affect businesses? On a practical level businesses will often find protection arises automatically in relation to a range of business literature, from product description sheets to terms and conditions of trading.

It will also undoubtedly exist in the contents of the pages of a website, providing a sufficient level of skill, labour and knowledge has gone into their creation.

This is irrespective of the underlying copyright which exists in any computer programs which may form the basis of the website.

Today businesses are being encouraged, and often want to, make this information available to as many potential customers as possible.

Businesses may, however, want to take heed and ensure their hard work and expense in the creation of these documents, or other media, is not used and exploited by competitors to help promote or sell competing goods at minimal expense.

Also, copyright law does not protect those who pay for material to be produced, only those who actually develop the content of that material.

If your business is using outside contractors to produce content for you, it is advisable to ensure the copyright in that content is assigned to you.

The simplest step however for a business to start protecting its copyright is to place the symbol at the end of any documents or content, followed by the business name and the year.

While this is not conclusive, it provides a deterrent to would-be copiers and will also provide proof of ownership to a court, should it be contested at a later date.

  • On April 7, Mr Justice Peter Smith threw out Baigent and Leigh's copyright infringement claim.

Mr Brown was said to be happy with the outcome.

Both books are published by Random House.