Compare and Contrast the Requirements for Originality in Relation to Coursework

Compare and Contrast the Requirements for Originality in Relation to Different Types of 'Author Works' - Coursework Example Things that require little or no effort from the human being itself may not be classified as an ‘author work’. For example, if a camera is placed in the lobby of an airport and it records a video of all the passengers, it cannot be called an author work because it required little or no effort from the maker itself. The process was entirely mechanical. So there has to be a certain threshold for originality for the subject of copyrights to come into play. The Government allows the authors a right to copy or distribute their written or produced pieces within a certain amount of time. This is called copyright. Different countries have different laws regarding copyright issues of different author works. Authorship on research papers can be judged by the amount of research one has done. A software engineer can also be called the author of software. The law towards protection of software copyrights is statutory. This is important because these days software is being marketed th rough websites, personal contacts, blogs and other channels without a license. In the United Kingdom, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 UK places due importance on originality (Derclaye 2009). Originality is considered to be the pre-requisite factor while granting a copyright. It is  required that literary, artistic, dramatic, and musical works should be original in order to qualify for copyright protection. Likewise, In Spain Article 1 of the Real Decreto Legislativo 1/1996, de 12 de abril, which is Spain's main copyright law states that "The intellectual property of a literary, artistic or scientific work is entitled to its author for the sole fact of its creation." An original work is considered to be the one that expresses the personality of its author. In the UAE, Federal Law No.7 of 2002 Pertains to Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights and has no such requirement as originality (Karake-Shalhoub and Qasimi 2006). Nevertheless work should have an element of innovation and creativity. All scientific, literary, musical or artistic work, cinematograph films, photographs, sound recordings, broadcasts must be copyrighted. Musical, scientific and literary works are judged only on their originality and not on the quality. Stories of fiction, poetry, plays, stage dramas, movies, news scripts, textbooks, agreements, historical documents, biographies, essays and articles, encyclopaedias and dictionaries, letters, reports and memoranda, lectures, addresses and sermons all come under the banner of ‘literary works’. However, it does not include speeches and addresses delivered in the House of Representatives and Courts. In India the â€Å"Sweat of the Brow Doctrine† is followed as it is a commonwealth country1. In Canada more importance is given to skill rather than labour. The Copyright Act (R.S. 1985, c. C-42) provides that: The Supreme Court of Canada asserted that the standard of originality should be set at the intermediate level of s kill and judgment. McLachlin C J explained (Scassa and Deturbide 2004): â€Å"For a work to be 'original' within the meaning of the Copyright Act, it must be more than a mere copy of another work. At the same time, it need not be creative, in the sense of being novel or unique. What is required to attract copyright protection in the expression of an idea is an exercise of skill and judgment. By skill, I mean the use of one's knowledge, developed aptitude or practised