Online copyright registration

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What is My©Box?

My©Box is a service of copyright registration time-stamped and archived by a Notary. It includes a protection and legal assistance service. With My©Box, you can have a strong proof of ownership of inventions, designs, software, websites, documents and other files of your choice.

Why use our copyright registration online services?

When confronted with a copyright infringement, creators often struggle to prove the creation date of their work and often have trouble proving that they are indeed the authors of the work. The UK Intellectual Property Office recommends that creators lodge their work with a solicitor for the purpose of demonstrating the paternity of the work, as well as the date of creation.

With our registration services, creators have a proof of creation date and of ownership.

How long does copyright last?

The duration of copyright varies depending on the originating country and the type of copyright work.

For works originating in the UK or a country of the European Union, the duration is determined by Directive 93/98/EEC (29 October 2023) harmonising the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights.

The duration chosen by the Directive is 70 years after the death of the author for authors' rights (Art. 1). This is longer than the 50 year term after the death of the author required by the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Art. 7.1 Berne Convention).

As a consequence, the duration of copyright protection in the UK for a literary, musical or artistic work lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years.

Do I need to register my copyright in order to be protected?

It depends on a number of criteria including where you seek protection and for how long.

Certain creations such as designs are better protected by registration. Design registration in the UK ensures a protection for 25 years from the filing date of the application, providing the renewal fees are paid every 5 years. Unregistered designs in the UK are protected for 15 years from the end of the calendar year in which the design was first recorded or incorporated into an article or 10 years from the end of the calendar year in which articles made to the design were first made available for sale or hire.

A design can be protected either by copyright laws or by an industrial design title. An industrial design title is an intellectual property right that protects the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian.

Protection is not cumulative. The design can be considered as an artistic creation and be elevated to copyright protection (in this case registration with the IPO is not required). If the condition of novelty is present at the time of creation (i.e. if no design identical or differing only in immaterial details has been made available to the public), the design can be protected by a design industrial property right. In the latter case, it is best to register your creation with the IPO.

For copyright (i.e. pure artistic creations), registration is not required and protection is acquired automatically. It is however better to register your creation with a third party for proof of the creation date and existence.

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