tudents need to research on these following topics:
1. copyright
2. trademark
3. patent
4. trade secret
5. intellectual property and how it protected
6. model release form
7. royalty free (RF) and rights managed (RM) for photography and illustration
8. piracy
9. counterfeiting
10. Definition of "engagement" or "appointment" in areas of fashion design/graphic/advertising standard contract agreement.
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Copyright:
Copyright is a legal
concept, enacted by most governments, that grants the creator of an original
work exclusive
rights to its use and distribution,
usually for a limited time, with the intention of enabling the creator of
intellectual wealth (e.g. the photographer of a photograph or the author of a
book) to receive compensation for their work and be able to financially support
themselves.
For
a copyright to apply to a work, it must be an original idea that is put to use.
The idea alone cannot be protected by copyright. It is the physical use of that
idea, such as an illustration or a written novel that is covered under
copyright law.
Copyright is a form of intellectual property (as patents, trademarks and trade
secrets are), applicable to
any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and
discrete. It is often shared, then percentage holders are commonly called rights holders: legally, contractually and
in associated "rights" business functions. Generally
rights holders have "the right to copy", but also the right to be
credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other forms whose
may perform the work whose may financially benefit from it, and other related
rights.
Copyright Symbol
Cost of enforcing copyright:
In most jurisdictions the copyright
holder must bear the cost of enforcing copyright. This will usually involve
engaging legal representation, administrative and or court costs. These costs,
including time, should be taken into consideration when evaluating the benefits
of enforcing copyright. In light of this, many copyright disputes are settled
by a direct approach to the infringing party in order to settle the dispute out
of court.
Several
exclusive rights typically attach to the holder of a copyright:
·
to
produce copies or reproductions of the work and to sell those copies
(including, typically, electronic copies)
·
to
import or export the work
·
to
create derivative works (works that
adapt the original work)
·
to
perform or display the work publicly
·
to
sell or cede these rights to others
·
to
transmit or display by radio or video.
The phrase "exclusive
right" means that only the copyright holder is free to exercise those
rights, and others are prohibited from using the work without the holder's
permission
Duration for Copyright:
Copyright subsists for
a variety of lengths in different jurisdictions. The length of the term can
depend on several factors, including the type of work (e.g. musical
composition, novel), whether the work has been published,
and whether the work was created by an individual or a corporation. In most of
the world, the default length of copyright is the life of the author plus
either 50 or 70 years.
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Trademark:
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a recognizable sign, design or expression which
identifies products or services of
a particular source from those of others. The
trademark owner can be an individual, business organization, or any legal
entity. A trademark may be located on a package, a label,
a voucher or on the product itself. For the
sake of corporate identity trademarks are also being displayed
on company buildings.
·
™ (the "trademark symbol", which is
the letters "TM", for an unregistered
trademark,
a mark used to promote or brand goods)
·
℠ (which is the
letters "SM" in superscript, for an unregistered service mark, a mark used to
promote or brand services)
·
® (the letter
"R" surrounded by a circle, for a registered trademark)
There are many different types of distinctive marks that are
classified as trademarks.
1. Name
Coco Chanel is a
perfect example of a name that is a trademark. The famous designer Coco
Chanel built her successful fashion empire by using her name. People knew that if they were to purchase a Coco
Chanel product they were going to receive quality craftsmanship. Through
her reputation of having excellent taste, her name became recognizable around
the world. Her name is considered a trademark because it is also the
brand name of her company and is used to distinguish herself from other
designers and generic clothing manufacturers.
2. Symbol
The McDonalds golden
arch is a classic example of a symbol trademark. Golden arches align
interstate highways to alert customers when there is a McDonalds located at
next exit. There is no mention of the name McDonalds on these golden
arches. McDonalds does not need to. There customers know that a
golden arch represents McDonalds. Their golden arch symbol clearly
differentiates them from other fast food restaurants.
3. Catchphrase
A catchphrase that is
identifiable to a person or company that is used to sell merchandise can be
trademarked. Donald Trump’s “You’re Fired” is a perfect example of a
trademark catchphrase. Donald Trump uses his catchphrase on his reality
television show “You’re Fired”.
4. Figure or Mascot
A classic example of a trademark
character is Geico’s talking gecko. Geico’s talking gecko was
featured in many commercials advertising Geico’s insurance. The gecko
became a mascot to the company. This talking lizard is now recognized by
thousands of American households nationwide.
5. Lyrics
A songwriter’s lyrics
are trademarks. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band made a hit single
song “Like a Rock” in 1986. In 1991, this song helped Chevrolet bounce
back from a near bankruptcy situation. The “Like a Rock” commercials were
so successful that these commercials were used for over ten years.
Chevrolet paid Seger royalties for licensing his trademark, “Like a Rock”.
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Patent:
A patent is a set of exclusive
rights granted
by a sovereign
state to
an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed
public disclosure of an invention.
An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem and is a product
or a process. Patents are a form
of intellectual property.
Simply
say it is a government authority or licence conferring a right or title for a
set period, especially the sole right to exclude others from making, using, or
selling an invention. It is a right granted to the owner of an
invention that prevents others from making, using, importing or selling
the invention without his permission.
A patentable invention can be a product or a process that
gives a new technical solution to a problem. It can also be a new method of
doing things, the composition of a new product, or a technical improvement on
how certain objects work. Once it is granted, its term of a patent is 20 years
from the Date of Filing, subject to the payment of annual renewal fees.
What
can be patented – utility patents are provided for a new, nonobvious and
useful:
·
Process
·
Machine
·
Article
of manufacture
·
Composition
of matter
·
Improvement
of any of the above
Note: In addition to utility patents,
encompassing one of the categories above, patent protection is available for
(1) ornamental design of an article of manufacture or (2) asexually reproduced
plant varieties by design and plant patents.
What
cannot be patented:
·
Laws
of nature
·
Physical
phenomena
·
Abstract
ideas
·
Literary,
dramatic, musical, and artistic works (these can be Copyright protected). Go to
the Copyright
Office .
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Trade Secret:
A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or
compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably
ascertainable, by which a business can
obtain an economic advantage over competitors or customers. In some jurisdictions,
such secrets are referred to as "confidential information", but are
generally not referred to as "classified
information" in the United
States, since that refers to government secrets protected by a different set of
laws and practices.
Simply
says it is any valuable commercial information that provides a business with an
advantage over competitors who do not have that information is called trade
secret.
Intellectual
property and how it protected:
Intellectual
property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and
artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.
IP is protected in law by, for
example, patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable people
to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. By
striking the right balance between the interests of innovators and the wider
public interest, the IP system aims to foster an environment in which
creativity and innovation can flourish.
How it is protected?
1.
Patents
When you
register your invention with the government—a process that can take more than a
year—you gain the legal right to exclude anyone else from manufacturing or
marketing it. Patents cover tangible things. They can also be registered in
foreign countries, to help keep international competitors from finding out what
your company is doing. Once you hold a patent, others can apply to license your
product. Patents can last for 20 years.
2.
Trademarks
A trademark is
a name, phrase, sound or symbol used in association with services or products.
It often connects a brand with a level of quality on which companies build a
reputation. Trademark protection lasts for 10 years after registration and can
be renewed "in perpetuity". But trademarks don't have to be
registered. If a company creates a symbol or name it wishes to use exclusively,
it can simply attach the TM symbol. This effectively marks the territory and
gives the company room to prosecute if other companies attempt to use the same
symbol for their own purposes.
3.
Copyrights
Copyright laws
protect written or artistic expressions fixed in a tangible medium - novels,
poems, songs or movies. A copyright protects the expression of an idea, but not
the idea itself. The owner of a copyrighted work has the right to reproduce it,
to make derivative works from it (such as a movie based on a book), or to sell,
perform or display the work to the public. You don't need to register your
material to hold a copyright, but registration is a prerequisite if you decide
to sue for copyright infringement. A copyright lasts for the life of the author
plus another 50 years.
4.
Trade secrets
A formula,
pattern, device or compilation of data that grants the user an advantage over
competitors is a trade secret. It is covered by state, rather than federal,
law. To protect the secret, a business must prove that it adds value to the
company - that it is, in fact, a secret - and that appropriate measures have
been taken within the company to safeguard the secret, such as restricting
knowledge to a select handful of executives. Coca-Cola, for example, has
managed to keep its formula under wraps for more than 117 years.
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Model
Release form:
A model
release is a legal release signed by the subject of a photograph or video
granting permission to use or publish the photograph or video in one form or
another.
No release is required
for publication, as news, of a photo taken of an identifiable person when the
person is in a public place. In general, no release is required for publication
of a photo taken of an identifiable person when the person is in a public space
unless the use is for trade or direct commercial use, which is defined as
promoting a product, service, or idea.
If you are including in
your item the face or identifiable features of any person on video, photograph,
or a traced illustration, you will need a signed model release from that person.
One of the example
for a model release form
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Royalty
free (RF) and Rights Managed (RM) for photography/illustration:
Royalty free (RF)
Royalty-free, or RF, refers to the right to use copyrighted material or intellectual property without the need to pay royalties or license
fees for
each use or per volume sold, or some time period of use or sales.
This is a type of license which allows the purchaser to do
pretty much anything they want with the image. This also means that the
purchaser has the right to use the image as many times as they want for as long
as they want, without needing to pay any additional fees. The number of times
that the image can be used is normally unlimited, which is easy for the
purchaser. The price that you charge will normally be based on the size of the
image.
You may use and publish the clip art,
images, music per the specified terms of usage but may not sale or distributed
to a 3rd party.
Royalty Free Images
Rights Managed (RM)
Rights Managed, or RM, in photography and the stock
photo industry,
refers to a copyright license which, if purchased by a
user, allows the one time use of the photo as specified by the license. If the
user wants to use the photo for other uses an additional license needs to be
purchased. RM licences can be given on a non-exclusive or exclusive basis. In
stock photography RM is one of the four common licenses or business models
together with royalty-free,
subscription and micro.
This is a more limited type of image licensing, which gives
you much more control over what your image can be used for.
You will be able to restrict the number of times that the
image is used, where the image is used and how the image is used. It's also
possible to restrict use of the image to a certain geographic region.
Sometimes, you might want to use this method to prevent the photograph being
used for advertising, which could cause problems if you do not have a model
release form.
Difference
between Rights Managed and Royalty Free:
If
you want to sell Rights Managed images, then it will be possible to make more per
image. However, to make this attractive to customers, you must make your images
look much better. If there are any images that you are particularly proud of,
then you will need to protect these by using rights managed licenses.
A
royalty free image is much easier to produce because you don't need to edit it
as much. These are sold at a low price, however, it's possible to sell more of
them. The images can be used in numerous different ways and anything can be
done with them.
You
will normally only be able to sell rights managed photographs in small batches.
If you are interested in piling them high and selling them cheap, then you need
to look into Royalty Free licensing. Rights Managed will normally only be
suitable for more experienced photographers with chosen experience.
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Piracy:
Like fonts, software is
also licensed. When you buy software you are purchasing a license to use it. It
is the intellectual property of those who created it. Without permission from
the manufacturer or publisher, it is illegal to use it. In addition to being
illegal and preventing software developers from being fairly compensated,
pirated software can cause bugs, viruses, and system crashes. Users also lose
the benefit of being able to upgrade and get support Pirated software gets into
the market and onto computers in numerous ways. People often don’t even realize
they are using it. Following are the different types of software piracy that
graphic designers need to be aware of.
End-User Piracy
•
Using one licensed copy to install a program on multiple
computers or servers
•
Copying disks for installation and distribution
•
Acquiring academic or other restricted software to use for an
unqualifi ed purpose
•
Swapping disks inside or outside of the workplace
Internet Piracy
•
Online distributors offering special deals supposedly on
behalf of the software publisher, such as inventory liquidation or bankruptcy
sales
•
Internet auction sites that offer counterfeit,
out-of-channel, or otherwise pirated software
•
Peer-to-peer networks that enable unauthorized transfer of
copyrighted programs (if it’s an upload of someone else’s software, it’s
probably illegal)
Hard-Disk
Loading
This occurs when a
business that sells new computers loads illegal copies of software onto the
hard disk to make the purchase of machines more attractive. To avoid this make
sure you purchase your hardware from reputable service providers that provide
you with a receipt of all original software licenses, disks, and documentation.
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Counterfeiting:
To counterfeit means to
imitate something. Counterfeit products are fake replicas of the real product.
Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of
the superior value of the imitated product. Counterfeiting is the practice of
manufacturing goods, often of inferior quality, and selling them under a brand
name without the brand owner’s authorization. Generally, counterfeit goods are
sold under a trademark that is identical to or substantially indistinguishable from
the brand owner's trademark for the same goods, without the approval or
oversight of the trademark owner. Many well-known brands, spanning various
industries, are victims of counterfeiting. Counterfeiting can be
distinguished from traditional trademark infringement or passing off, which
involves the use of confusingly similar trademarks or service marks on or in
association with similar—as opposed to fake—products or services. The manufacturing of counterfeits is
most prevalent in developing countries with a strong,
inexpensive manufacturing capability, including many nations
throughout Asia (such as China and Taiwan), although counterfeit goods
are sold around the globe. Counterfeits are manufactured to a lesser
degree in developed countries.
Software
Counterfeiting
This occurs when
pirates deliberately and illegally duplicate and sell copyrighted material,
often making it appear to their customers that they are purchasing an authentic
product. Illegally copied and sold software is not eligible for support,
training, or upgrades. You may not be able to register it, so it may not work
properly. To ensure that software you purchase is not counterfeit, only buy
from authorized sellers and make sure that you get the original user materials
(manuals, registration cards, and licenses) and that you get a receipt with
your purchase. When working with outside vendors only work with reputable
service providers that maintain licenses and documentation for the software
that they use.
Different
between Piracy and Counterfeiting:
The term "counterfeit" describes fake goods. The
term "piracy" describes the act of reproducing movies, music, books
or other copyrighted works without permission from the copyright owner.
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Definition of ‘Engagement’ or ‘Appointment’ in areas of
fashion design/graphic/advertising standard contract agreement:
Engagement letter is a
written agreement to perform services in exchange for compensation. Engagement
letters are traditionally used by certain professional service firms, particularly
in the fields of finance, accounting, law and consulting to define the
specifics of the business relationship. Normally, the letter is sent by the
service firm to an officer of the engaging company. Once the officer has signed
the engagement letter, the letter serves as a contract.
Sample of an
Engagement Letter
