Originality
Copyright Protection

Originality is a perquisite for copyright protection for certain works under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 UK. It is requirement that literary, artistic, dramatic, and musical works be original in order to qualify for copyright protection.

Under UK law, the requirement of originality imposes a low threshold for protection.

As copyright protects the expression (or the recorded form of the work), rather than the ideas contained within the relevant work, it is the originality of the labour expended in the way the work is expressed, rather than the originality (or inventiveness) of the idea expressed in the work that is the relevant consideration. This low level of originality required may be contrasted to the novelty requirement under patent law, which requires a patentable invention to be new, and not otherwise seen before. This stands in a sharp contrast to the originality requirement for the purposes of protection of literary, artistic, dramatic, and musical works.

Originality is satisfied where the copyright work in question is the work of the author and not a copy of another's creation, and the work to the extent that it draws on existing material, exhibits more than trivial or negligible skill in its creation.  The level of skill and labour required to satisfy the requirement of originality is generally satisfied provided that the creation of the work is not a purely mechanical exercise. 

The test for each type of copyright work has its own nuances for the satisfaction of the requirement for originality.