Someone is using my original work without my permission, what can I do?

If you become aware of someone using your original work in theirs and they are publishing it as though it is their own without your permission, then they may have infringed on your copyright. Their work must be substantially different to yours or they run the risk of interfering with your rights. It is acceptable to use the work of others as inspiration, but if part or the whole of their work is substantially copied from your original work, your rights are likely to have been breached.

There is a fine line with copyright law which means infringements are not always clear at first. If you have used facts in your original work which are widely available in the public domain, someone simply using these same facts will not have infringed your copyright. Likewise, copyright law only protects the expression of ideas, so relatively simple and abstract ideas that are quite general will not be protected. Your original expression of an idea, however, will be.

If your original work has been copied without your permission, or you have been accused of using someone else’s original work without their permission, the team at Vardags will be able to provide you with detailed advice on whether a copyright has been infringed and the best course of action to take forward to protect your position.