Using your copyright

As a copyright owner you have the right to decide whether and how your copyright work is used.  This may be by granting a licence to allow others to use your work or marketing your work yourself to try to gain rewards for your efforts.

The purpose of copyright is to allow creators to gain economic rewards for their efforts and so encourage future creativity and the development of new material which benefits us all.

Copyright material is usually the result of creative skill, significant labour and/or investment, and, without protection, it would often be very easy for others to exploit material without paying the creator.

Most uses of copyright material therefore require permission from the copyright owner. However there are exceptions to copyright, so that some minor uses may not infringe copyright.