The great thing about copyright is that the protection arises automatically once an original work is written down or recorded in some way, such as on paper, on canvas or in digital form, including on the internet. A work doesn’t even need to be formally “published” in order to be protected - the important thing is that it’s recorded. This means the novel in your bottom drawer is protected by copyright law. 

The other benefit to New Zealand’s copyright system is that you don’t need to register a work for it to be protected. It’s not even necessary to include a copyright statement or use the copyright symbol © on your work. However, a statement or the copyright symbol can be used to remind others that the work is protected and lets them know who to contact if they want permission to use the work. 

It’s important to understand that copyright only protects the original expression of ideas, not ideas themselves. That’s why it’s important your expression is recorded in a tangible format as you can’t have copyright in your thoughts. 

Likewise, facts or information cannot be protected by copyright. This is essentially because they already exist in the public domain. However, if they are brought together and expressed in an original way, then that expression can be protected. This means that if you’re writing a historical novel based on true events, the novel itself can be protected by copyright but the author won’t gain ownership of the underlying true story. 

Only original works are capable of copyright protection. The term “original” when used in the copyright context has little to do with literary or artistic merit. It is generally sufficient if the work is original to the author, meaning that it has involved some independent skill, labour or judgement by the author. A simple poem that took five minutes to write is just as eligible for copyright protection as a prize winning novel. To qualify for copyright protection, a work cannot be a copy of someone else’s work or infringe another work.