Copyright law makes it illegal to photocopy books
Submitted by Kate Russell BA (Hons), Barrister, MA
It’s against the law to photocopy books and training course materials under copyright law. In addition to this, what people may not know is that employers are under a duty to do what they can to ensure that employees comply with the law while they are at work, this includes copyright law and intellectual property. This means that employers are also liable to prosectution where an employee breaks copyright law.
Did you know that you can be prosecuted (under the criminal law) or sued (under the civil law) for the wrongful acts of your employees?
Sanctions can be heavy, so make sure that you don’t allow your employees to breach the law; even a simple act of photocopying materials that are protected by copyright. Take care to look for the copyright symbol ©.
The doctrine of vicarious liability makes employers liable for unlawful acts of their employees if those unlawful acts are done “in the course of their employment”.
This last phrase is fairly broadly interpreted and can apply even where employees are acting in breach of specific instructions from their employer or even against the principles of common sense. This means that you need to take steps to monitor activities and take robust disciplinary action where they are found to be in breach.
Sometimes breach of the law is a matter of interpretation, but in certain areas of the law, employers are specifically made liable for the wrongful acts of their employees.
In many cases an employer can successfully defend a claim if he can prove that he took such steps as were reasonably practicable to prevent the employee from doing that act, or from doing in the course of his employment acts of that description. What constitutes reasonable steps will depend on the particular circumstances.
Like unlawful harassment, photocopying copyright materials and other such theft in its various forms is normally regarded as gross misconduct and if found to be guilty, an employee can be dismissed without notice.
Have you ever copied materials such as:
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Information from the Internet for use at work
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Photocopying training course notes to spread amongst your staff
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The use of someone else’s diagram or business model
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Photocopying pages of a book
It’s so easy to do isn’t it, but note, if that material is subject to copyright, and you don’t have the author’s permission, that simple action is a breach of the law! (take note of the footer of this page)
Can you be sure that your employees are observing the copyright laws? If not, you could end up being vicariously liable for their wrongful actions.
Copyright is a form of intellectual property and it arises when an individual creates an original work. Normally the person who created the work will exclusively own the rights. Where an employee inappropriately copies material, the employer may be vicariously liable. So will the perpetrator (he can’t argue that he’s not personally liable simply because he has committed the infringement in the course of his employment) but the painful truth is that it’s more likely to benefit a complainant to pursue the company because they have more money and can pay substantial damages.
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 is the current UK copyright law. It gives the creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works the right to control the ways in which their material may be used. It makes it an offence to copy the work, rent, lend or issue copies of the work to the public. without the consent of the owner. Copyright material can only be copied in very limited circumstances, for example, private and research study purposes.
Where an owner’s rights have been breached he can bring legal proceedings against an infringement. If an employee has acted unlawfully and the employer has not taken any, or any sufficient measures, to prevent such a breach, both employer and employee may be pursued.
In recent years, the criminal penalties for commercial copyright piracy have been made more severe as a result of the growth in national and international piracy of copyright material. Penalties range from imprisonment for up to two years, to fines and forfeiture of infringing material and equipment for making infringing material.
Actions for Employers:
- If you want to copy material which is protected by copyright, make sure you get written permission from the author of the material
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Ensure that you clearly identify and publish your standards to your employees
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Make sure they are aware of the consequences of breach
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Monitor and where appropriate take disciplinary action to manage any breach
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Ensure that you are able to prove that you took such steps as were reasonably practicable to prevent the employee from taking unlawful actions
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Make sure your insurance covers the risk of covering damage for breach of copyright
© Copyright Insight Training & Development Ltd 2008
You have our permission to provide a link to this page, but you are not allowed to copy it.