HOW CAN I PROTECT MY SOFTWARE?

Published February 21, 2023

These days, a lot of people create a lot of software and many of them make a lot of money with it. With the proliferation of smartphones and tablets has come the necessity of apps and other software to make those devices do what they were meant to do. If you have created a game for a smartphone or you have created the best video editing software ever created, the only way to protect yourself is through copyright law. Your software took a lot of work to create and it is undoubtedly important to you and your creativity should be be rewarded. But more than that, according to UK copyright law, you should be the only one to profit or otherwise benefit from it.

In the United Kingdom, as long as your software is sufficiently original and is not derivative of another creative work, it qualifies for copyright protection, although such protection can only work when you are able to prove that someone has copied it or otherwise infringed on your software and that you can prove that your software was created first. That's only possible if you can certify to legal authorities that you own the book and that your book predates their copy. One way to protect yourself is by registering and making a copyright deposit in a way that establishes you as the owner of the work and that creates a date certain of the book's creation.

How To protect Your Software

When you register and make a copyright deposit of your software with Copyright.co.uk, the protection is instantaneous. Your copyright deposit establishes a date certain of creation of your software, which will establish priority of copyright. And because this deposit serves as incontestable proof of copyright because it is unalterable by anyone. That's what makes it so important; the deposit of your software serves as an official witness of your right to your software creation and all of its design elements.

When you file for copyright protection for your software, that protection is valid for life and beyond. When you deposit your software for copyright protection, your work is in hands of officers with a legal obligation to retain books and all other deposits in a way that makes them incontestable in a legal proceeding. And your protection reaches well beyond the United Kingdom. When you make a copyright deposit in the UK with Copyright.co.uk, your copyright protection is valid in all 171 countries that have signed on to the Berne Convention, which means your software is protected internationally. In this day of instantaneous uploads and downloads all over the world, such protection of your software can be invaluable.

Protect a software, source code or script here