Copyright under English law is an economic, or even a commercial, right. That is, it is essentially the right to prevent others copying material so that you have the exclusive right to exploit it yourself. It is a powerful right but also a valuable one, as it lasts for at least 70 years.
The extent to which this commercial right should be limited has been the subject of much recent debate. For example, in Hyde Park Residence Limited v Yelland & Others (2000), Mohamed Al Fayed's security company sued the Sun for publishing stills from videotapes showing the Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed the day before they died. The Sun argued that it published the stills in the public interest in order to contradict statements made by Mr Fayed as to the duration of the couple's stay.
The court decided that infringement of copyright could be justified in the public interest only on extremely narrow grounds, namely if the material was immoral, scandalous, injurious to public health and safety or the administration of justice and the like. It did not apply in this case.