Copyright question (uk) - diaries, recordings etc?

[mkates]

I was trying to understand what happens if somebody uncovers material like diaries and sound recordings when the copyright runs out, so over seventy years after your death. I've recorded music and written diaries, but I wouldn't want them to be public/published. how does it all work? i recorded in a studio so i'm not totally sure who owns the copyright. i paid for the recordings and played it all myself and it was nearly all my own material.

(there may be duplicates of tapes that it'd be near impossible to trace - so not easy to find, to destroy myself)

There was a thread on just this very point a week or so ago.

For the diaries, you own the copyright which will expire 70 years after your death.

The position with the recorded music is more complex. Copyright in the music and lyrics belongs to the composer(s) and will expire 70 years after their death. Copyright in the sound recording itself belongs to the producer and expires 50 years after it was made. If it is published during that time copyright expires 50 years after publication - note that playing the recording in public counts as publishing it. Within the next 12 months the protection for sound recordings will be extended to 70 years.

Once the material is out of copyright anyone can publish it or make it public. The only way you can prevent it ever being made public is to destroy the originals and all copies. If you are unable to trace some of the copies I'm afraid there is nothing you can do to prevent eventual publication.

"Copyright in the sound recording itself belongs to the producer and expires 50 years after it was made" - who counts as 'producer'? I went to a small studio where there was sound engineer/producer person type person to do demos but paid for recordings myself and I don't think there was ant kind of contract.

"Copyright in the sound recording itself belongs to the producer and expires 50 years after it was made. If it is published during that time copyright expires 50 years after publication" - bit confused here? does that mean if i recorded something in say April 2007, then the producer has until April 2057 to publish it and from then on the copyright last to 2107 (i.e. 50 years on).

"If it is published during that time copyright expires 50 years after publication - note that playing the recording in public counts as publishing it." - what does playing the recording in public mean? on a radio station?

Can copyrights be re-registered?

That's all really good prh47bridge - but if you can elaborate a bit to help me fully understand, that'd be really appreciated. Thanks

Who counts as producer?

In the situation you describe the copyright in the recordings may belong to you but it may belong to the sound engineer/producer. I think it probably belongs to you but you would need to take advice from a lawyer who specialises in copyright to be sure.

If you record something in April 2007 copyright will expire at the end of 2057 provided it hasn't been published in that time. If it is published for the first time in, say, July 2014 copyright will expire at the end of 2064. The copyright will only be extended if the recording is published before the end of 2057 - not April 2057 as copyright always runs to the end of the relevant year.

Playing the recording in public means exactly what it says. If you play it in a public place you have published the recording. So playing it on a radio station counts but so does playing it at an event to which the public are admitted or in a public space. So you would publish the recording if you play it in the street so that others can listen to it.

Copyrights cannot be re-registered or extended.

So are there any practical steps at all available left to me to stop this stuff coming out (and ever)? Are there any combative things I can do?

I can leave a letter with my will saying I would prefer this stuff never to see the light of day, I guess.

The only thing you can do to stop this stuff ever becoming public is to ensure that the originals and all copies are destroyed before you die.

Unless you are famous, it seems very unlikely anyone would publish your diaries or sound recordings 70 years after your death.

Copyright in the UK cannot be "registered" at all. It simply arises when the original work is first fixed in permanent form.