Copyright

Service overview: Copyright lawyers

Copyright law provides creators with automatic ownership of their work, which can include computer software, designs, images, music, artwork, literature, or films. You don’t need to register it, and there isn’t a UK register of copyright works.
It is important that creative individuals and businesses understand how to protect and defend their intellectual property. Our intellectual property strategy services can help you assess the best protection for your circumstances.
Harper James’ specialist copyright lawyers can assist with any matter including explaining your rights, licensing your copyright works, sale and transfer/assignment of copyright, or handling a dispute or infringement.
Our copyright lawyers can offer a range of strategies to resolve any disputes. When it comes to contentious matters, we are strong advocates for alternative dispute resolution methods in the first instance, as these can lead to amicable resolutions which are realised faster, with less cost, and without long term damage to relationships; a key reason why many clients seek our services.
We’re a national law firm with multiple office locations and expert senior solicitors working remotely throughout the UK. This enables us to offer our innovative pricing packages.

What we do: Copyright lawyers

Almost all businesses will have some dealings with copyright, whether you use third party assets or create your own copyright works. Knowing how to stay compliant, avoid and prevent infringement and successfully exploit your creative work can all require detailed legal advice.

Copyright is the automatic right afforded by law to those who create, preventing others from taking ownership, exploiting, or controlling that work, unless you choose to license and exploit your copyright.

Copyright law plays an essential role in protecting the work and ideas of creators. Whether you’ve produced a website, piece of art, literary work, software programme, song, sound recordings, films, broadcasts, poems, or any other type of creative output, it’s important to ensure your creative efforts are properly protected, and effectively exploited.

As a copyright law firm, we can act on your behalf if your work is infringed without your consent by being:

adapted
copied
distributed
performed
played
placed on the internet
rented or loaned
shown or broadcast.

To learn more about copyright law, please visit our copyright FAQs page.

Our legal copyright services

Our specialist team of copyright lawyers can assist with a range of legal matters including:

Selling or transferring your copyright (also known as assignment)
Explaining your rights – including copyright, moral rights, and performers’ rights
Copyright infringements or disputes – including verifying if another party has applied for rights to use your work (and have usage stopped or assert that the license fee has not been paid), raising a complaint with the copyright tribunal, or taking enforcement action
Holistic intellectual property law such as IP strategy, IP disputes and general IP advice.

Handling copyright infringement

Our copyright solicitors understand the importance of acting swiftly in response to any infringement of your copyright, to protect your brand and prevent financial losses, and crucially to convey the message that breach of your copyright will not be tolerated.

Our in-depth knowledge of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 means we can quickly act in response to any infringement against your work.

If an infringement against your creative work has occurred in another country, we will seek to intervene using that jurisdiction’s specific copyright laws.

We can also act for you if you’ve been accused of copyright infringement. Watch our IP partner Lindsay Gledhill explaining a little-known way you can resolve such a situation:

Protecting digital or online works

We are seeing a considerable increase in copyright infringements in relation to digital creative work, including websites, software, and designs. It is not unusual to see entire webpages, including written content, development code, and logos being copied unlawfully. Our online copyright lawyers will act quickly to have the copied content removed from a website and from search engines. We can also hold the website hosting company liable if they fail to delete content which they have been ordered to remove.

Pricing plans

Our three transparent pricing packages are designed to give you the widest possible access to high-quality legal advice, whatever the size and nature of your business:

City

Straightforward access to senior solicitors at a competitive rate.

An affordable solution for businesses needing one-off legal support. Receive ‘City’ partner-level expertise at a fraction of ‘City’ prices.

Enterprise

Have legal peace of mind for £189 per month with additional support from £99 per hour.

A monthly subscription legal support package specifically designed for start-ups and smaller businesses.

On-Demand

For businesses requiring 60+ hours of support a year, with prices equivalent to £99 per hour.

Fully account managed quarterly subscription service for businesses with more complex legal needs.

Learn more about our pricing plans

What our clients say

We pride ourselves on delivering an excellent service for clients, but don’t just take our word for it.

Our solicitor is a pleasure to work with – very commercial and usually quick to turn around. I am looking forward to working more with her and to her becoming an "external" extension of my commercial legal team!

Natalie Salunke, Vice President & Head of Legal
AllStar Business Solutions

Our solicitor has been very helpful. Quick and efficient.

Vincent Sitwell, Director
Kolibri Drinks

Harper James has been invaluable. They drafted the relevant agreements and gave us sound legal advice in an area that we did not have prior experience in. As a start-up, having advice and feedback from an organisation that specialises in early-stage enterprises was instrumental in us having the confidence to push forward with our product

Dean Bryan, Co-Founder
Yyoma