OTHER CHAPTERS
I. SETTING UP AN ORGANISATION
Ch.1: Trusts & unincorporated associations
Ch.2: Companies & other incorporated structures
Ch.3: Charitable status, charity law & regulation
Ch.4: The objects clause
Ch.5: The governing document
Ch.6: Setting up an organisation
Ch.7: Registering as a charity
Ch.8: The organisation's name
Ch.9: Branches, subsidiaries, partnerships & mergers
II. GOVERNANCE & MEMBERSHIP
Ch.10: Members of the organisation
Ch.11: Members of the governing body
Ch.12: Officers, committees & sub-committees
Ch.13: Duties & powers of the governing body
Ch.14: Restrictions on expenses, remuneration & benefits
III. RUNNING AN ORGANISATION
Ch.15: The registered office and other premises
Ch.16: Paperwork requirements
Ch.17: Meetings & decision making
Ch.18: Legal agreements
Ch.19: Organisational & personal liability
Ch.20: Insurance
Ch.21: Financial difficulties & winding up
IV. EMPLOYEES, WORKERS, VOLUNTEERS & OTHER STAFF
Ch.22: Employees and other workers
Ch.23: Rights, duties & the contract of employment
Ch.24: Model contract of employment
Ch.25: Equal opportunities in employment
Ch.26: Taking on new employees
Ch.27: Pay & pensions
Ch.28: Working time & leave
Ch.29: Disciplinary matters, grievances & whistleblowing
Ch.30: Termination of employment
Ch.31: Redundancy
Ch.32: Employer-employee relations
Ch.33: Employment claims & settlement
Ch.34: Self-employed workers & other contractors
Ch.35: Volunteers
V. SERVICES & ACTIVITIES
Ch.36: Health & safety
Ch.37: Equal opportunities in provision of goods & services
Ch.38: Confidentiality, privacy, data protection & freedom of information
Ch.40: Publications & publicity
Ch.41: Campaigning & political activities
Ch.42: Public gatherings & entertainment
Ch.43: Food & drink
VI. FUNDING & FUNDRAISING
Ch.44: Funding & fundraising: General rules
Ch.45: Fundraising activities
Ch.46: Tax-effective giving
Ch.47: Trading companies
Ch.48: Contracts & service agreements
VII. FINANCE
Ch.49: Financial procedures & records
Ch.50: Annual accounts, reports & returns
Ch.51: Auditors
Ch.52: Corporation tax, income tax & capital gains tax
Ch.53: Value added tax
Ch.54: Investment & reserves
Ch.55: Borrowing
VIII. PROPERTY
Ch.56: Land ownership & tenure
Ch.57: Acquiring & disposing of property
Ch.58: Business leases
Ch.59: Property management & the environment
IX. BACKGROUND TO THE LAW
Ch.60: How the law works
Ch.61: Dispute resolution & litigation
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UPDATED INFORMATION FOR CHAPTER 39:
VOLUNTARY SECTOR LEGAL HANDBOOK
This page contains information that has appeared on Sandy Adirondack's legal update website for voluntary organisations at www.sandy-a.co.uk/legal.htm. For current updates, including potential changes that are in the pipeline, see the legal update website.
These websites for each chapter update
the 2nd edition of The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook by Sandy Adirondack and James Sinclair Taylor (Directory of Social Change, 2001). The websites are not intended as a comprehensive update and should not be treated as such.
To order a copy of The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook, print out the order form at www.sandy-a.co.uk/bookserv.htm or send an email order by clicking
. It costs £50 for voluntary organisations or £80 for others, plus 10% p&p. We expect the third edition to be published in 2007.
The information here covers the law applicable to England and Wales. It may not apply in Northern Ireland and/or Scotland. These news items are not a full or definitive statement of the law and are not intended as a substitute for professional legal advice. No responsibility for loss occasioned as a result of any person acting or refraining from acting can be taken by the author.
Chapter 39
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
CREATIVE COMMONS
Added 5/12/06. This information adds to s.39.2 in The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook 2nd edition.
Organisations increasingly make training materials, standard documents and other resources available on their websites. Making such information available in electronic format gives rise to the risk that the material will be copied without reference to the originating organisation. In seeking to restrict such copying, organisations must balance the wish to disseminate the information widely for the public benefit, and the duty to safeguard an asset of their organisation.
The Creative Commons scheme offers a useful framework for dealing with such issues. A Creative Commons licence permits users to download and distribute creative work freely. The creator of the work can choose to maintain certain rights granted to them by copyright law, such as the right to exploit works for commercial gain, to veto derivative works or to be credited each time their work is reproduced, but may also give up such rights if they choose.
Details are at www.creativecommons.org.uk. (I'll get around to doing it for this website one of these days...)
Reproduced from Sinclair Taylor & Martin - The Charity Team at Russell-Cooke Solicitors Charities Newsletter, autumn 2006, www.russell-cooke.co.uk.
For more information contact Shivaji Shiva on 020-8394 6486 or shivas@russell-cooke.co.uk.
REPRODUCTION OF COPYRIGHT MATERIAL
FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE
Updated 4/10/03. This information adds to s.39.2.5 in The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook 2nd edition.
Where a visually impaired person has a copy of a publication or a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work which is not accessible to them because of their impairment, it is not a copyright infringement for a single accessible copy to be made for their use. Authorised bodies, such as voluntary organisations and educational establishments, can make multiple copies for use by visually impaired people, where the material exists only in inaccessible form. These exceptions to copyright law do not apply where making the accessible copy would involve recording a performance of music or would infringe copyright in a database.
Further information is in the Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002 at www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/20020033.htm. The regulations came into force on 31 October 2003.
LICENCE TO COPY NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Updated 22/8/04. This information updates s.39.2.5.3 in The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook 2nd edition.
People often think they can photocopy, scan or fax newspaper articles for internal management or publicity purposes, but this is not the case. In order to copy from national, regional, or foreign newspapers a licence must be obtained from the Newspaper Licensing Authority. Under recent changes:
- the free licence for registered charities which receive most of their income from donations has ended;
- registered charities with five or fewer employees or annual income of less than £250,000 may obtain a licence free of charge for ad hoc (occasional) copying;
- registered charities larger than this get a discount of £92 on the basic annual fee for ad hoc copying;
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there are no free licences or reductions for systematic copying or digital copying (these are explained on the NLA's website) or copying for distribution to the charity's members.
The NLA can--and does--charge fees backdated for up to six years for copying that took place before a licence was granted.
Information about NLA licences in general is at www.nla.co.uk. Information about charity registration and discounts and an application form are at www.ecomallbiz.com/easy23/charitieslicenceapplication.
COPYRIGHT AND PATENT LAW CHANGES
Updated 26/10/05. This information updates ss.39.2 and 39.6 in The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook 2nd edition.
Under the "fair dealing" exception, copyright law used to allow the making of a single copy of a copyright work, provided it was for research or private study. However under the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003, which came into effect on 31 October 2003, this exception applies only where the copying is for non-commercial use. Where even a single copy copy is made by a business or for other commercial use (including by a charity or other not-for-profit organisation) the copying requires consent from the copyright owner or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency (www.cla.co.uk) or Newspaper Licensing Agency (www.nla.co.uk).
Also under the Act, the use of broadcasts (radio or TV programmes) to provide a musical ambience or musical entertainment in public requires not only the usual licence from the Performing Right Society (www.prs.co.uk), but also one from Phonographic Performance Limited (www.ppluk.com). This applies not only where the music is played for the public, but also where it is played in work settings such as a staff canteen or open plan office.
"Making available to the public", which includes making an unauthorised copy of a copyright work and then making it available to other people via the internet or similar medium, is explicitly unlawful.
The (very long) regulations are at www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032498.htm.
The Patents Act 2004, which received royal assent on 22 July 2004, does not change the criteria for patenting inventions, but makes some changes to how patents are enforced. The Act is at www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2004/20040016.htm and the explanatory notes are at www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/en2004/2004en16.htm.
From 1 October 2005 a new opinions procedure allows applications to be made in writing to the Patent Office for an impartial opinion on issues concerning patent validity or infringement. Details about the procedure, and about all intellectual property rights--copyright, patents, trade marks and design right--is available from the Patent Office at www.patent.gov.uk.
MORAL RIGHTS FOR PERFORMERS
Added 5/12/06. This information updates s.39.3 in The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook 2nd edition.
Anyone performing live in public, broadcasting live or releasing a sound recording of their performance is able to assert "moral rights". These are divided into two elements:
- the paternity right, which is the right to be identified as the performer; and
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the integrity right, which is the right to object to derogatory treatment of that performance.
These rights for performers, introduced in February 2006, broadly mirror the moral rights that have been enjoyed by authors and directors since 1998. The regulations cover the whole or any "substantial" part of a performance and relate to all types of live performance and sound recordings of performances. However, protection does not stretch to audio-visual recordings of performances.
Performers will have to assert these rights in writing and monitor whether these rights are being respected.
These rights also affect organisations which "produce", organise or promote a performance, as they now have specific duties under the regulations. These include, for example, a requirement to identify those involved in the performance except where specified exceptions apply. Organisations that promote or organise performances should review rights clearance procedures to ensure they take into account these new moral rights.
The Performances (Moral Rights, etc) Regulations 2006 are at www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/20060018.htm.
Reproduced from Sinclair Taylor & Martin - The Charity Team at Russell-Cooke Solicitors Monthly Legal Update, August 2006, www.russell-cooke.co.uk.
For more information contact Shivaji Shiva on 020-8394 6486 or shivas@russell-cooke.co.uk.
DESIGN REGISTRATION CHANGES
Added 5/12/06. This information updates s.39.7 in The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook 2nd edition.
Under the new design registration system in effect from 1 October 2006, new designs no longer have to be examined for novelty before registration, and multiple designs can be registered under a single application. There is no legal requirement to register designs or protect intellectual property rights; the new system is voluntary.
Information is available at www.patent.gov.uk/design.htm.
DOMAIN NAME RENEWALS
Added 30/8/03. This information adds to s.39.9.1 in The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook 2nd edition.
From 1 August 2003 Nominet UK has changed its renewal procedures for co.uk and org.uk domain names (web addresses). Nominet no longer contacts domain name owners several times to remind them they need to renew. There is only one notification, and if the registration is not renewed within 30 days the name will be suspended for 60 days and then cancelled--at which point it becomes available to anyone. Where a domain name is registered through an internet service provider (ISP) or registration agent they are likely to have their own renewal system, but to protect their .uk domain names organisations should:
- do a "who is" search at www.nominet.org.uk to find out who the domain name is registered with and when registration expires;
- if appropriate, check with the body it is registered with to confirm they will deal with renewal;
- discuss with the registration body whether to take advantage of new provisions allowing names to be renewed up to six months before expiry, or allowing for automatic renewal every two years.
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