defined period, for example (this is called a copyright licence).

Bear in mind, though, that there is no copyright in a bare idea — the classic case is a format for a game show. If you are talking to potential financiers of your programme when you have little more than an idea, you should therefore make sure that everything is done in confidence.

In order to make your programme, you must obtain similar assignments or licences from owners of the copyright and/or the performers’ rights that you need for your programme. Examples might be the scriptwriter for the script, the author of the work from which your programme is adapted, the composer or

arranger of any sound-track music you include in your programme (and the record company if it is pre-recorded), and any actors, musicians, presenters, reporters or interviewees who appear in the programme. The Copyright Act also recognises directors of films and television programmes as having copyright in their contribution to them.

In practice, fees for the various forms of secondary use are in many cases defined in industry agreements, either with trades unions representing such people as writers, actors and musicians, or with collecting societies representing composers, record companies, etc. These fees are usually expressed either as a "residual" — ie a percentage of the original