2. Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988)

This Act was introduced to protect the investment of time, money and effort by the people who create original pieces of work.

This can mean authors of books, composers of music, the makers of a film, a computer game designer or a company that creates applications for smart phones.

They all invest a great deal of time and money to produce these things and quite rightly, their work belongs to them.

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act has two main purposes:

1. To ensure people are rewarded for their endeavours

2. To give protection to the copyright holder if someone tries to copy or steal their work.