Copyright Act 1994

5 Meaning of author

• (1) For the purposes of this Act, the author of a work is the person who creates it.

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the person who creates a work shall be taken to be,—

  • (a) in the case of a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work that is computer-generated, the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the creation of the work are undertaken:

  • (b) in the case of a sound recording or film, the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the making of the recording or film are undertaken:

  • (c) in the case of a communication work, the person who makes the communication work:

  • (d) in the case of a typographical arrangement of a published edition, the publisher.

  • (e) [Repealed]

  (3) The author of a work of any of the descriptions referred to in subsection (2) may be a natural person or a body corporate.

  Compare: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 s 9(1)–(3) (UK)

  Section 5(2)(c): substituted, on 31 October 2008, by section 7 of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 27).

  Section 5(2)(d): substituted, on 31 October 2008, by section 7 of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 27).

  Section 5(2)(e): repealed, on 31 October 2008, by section 7 of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 27).