Hi, in Australia, if you make a one off piece of jewellery, it is
considered along with " art" to be automatically copyright to the
artist at the moment ( or thereabouts ) of creation, and nothing
more needs to be done in regards to this. If you plan producing more
than one hundred of your piece, you then have to register the design
BEFORE you start selling it with IP Australia, if you want it
protected legally that is, at a cost of $90. IP then process your
application to register this design, but when application is
accepted ( if it is) the design registration is dated from your
original application date. The registration also comes up for
renewal after a period of time, at a further fee. I’ve been going
through this process for a while now, and I’m still a little hazy on
what happens if you make say… 30 of a piece, but I think if you
argue artistic input on each piece, then it is part of the automatic
copyright for artists thing. Arts Law were the people who told me
about this, but it was a couple of years ago, and the whole issue of
protecting one’s work can be a little complicated. Christine in Sth
Australia
another thought- I understand that this “protection” is only valid
in Australia and countries which have copyright agreements with us