What is Copyright?

Copyright is an intellectual property right chiefly concerned with original written works and the typographical arrangement of published works.   Copyright owners have the exclusive right to copy their work and to issue copies of their work to the public, and it is an infringement for anyone else to do so without the copyright owner's permission.

Much of what the RSC publishes is work written by third parties (the copyright owner), and it is important that the RSC obtains the proper authority and rights to publish this material.   We may do this by obtaining a licence to publish (with the copyright owner retaining copyright), or by taking assignment of copyright to the RSC.   The RSC must also ensure that the material we publish does not infringe the copyright of others.   The RSC must acquire the legal rights it needs to publish material and the rights it needs to manage and protect the material it publishes.

The RSC must respect the copyright of others, and it must be sure that it has the proper authority to use material that has already been published elsewhere and is owned by someone else (for example, reusing material in our own publications or in photocopying third party material).