ABSTRACT
Copyright law has two basic functions, a property function and an authenticity function, both seeking to establish who is the author of a work. Copyright provides that the rights holder determines whether and how copying, distributing, broadcasting and other uses of his work takes place. The ‘right to copy’ introduced by the Statute of Anne came after nearly three centuries of copyright monopoly by the monarchs and the Stationers’ Company who also had the right to censor radical or subversive literature. Intellectual property (IP) rights also contain rights to freedom of expression as well as reputational and moral rights which need to be protected by robust legislation in order for law enforcement agencies to adequately act on copyright theft, piracy and trade mark infringement. IP can have more than one owner or belong to more than one person or business and can be sold or transferred.
