Unit 3 - Section 5: Intellectual Property
What is copyright infringement?
- when one copies another person's sequence of thoughts, choice of words & arrangement. The "essence" of an artists creativity is protected not just the literal presentation
what are the main forms of intellectual property (4)
1. copyright 2. trademarks 3. trade secrets 4. patents
What 3 criteria are considered by a court when a plaintiff sues for copyright infringement?
1. is the plaintiff's work original? 2. did the defendant have access to the plaintiff's work? 3. is there evidence that the defendant actually copied the plaintiff's work? if the general idea of the two works is similar, the expression of these ideas must also be similar to constitute copyright infringement
What 4 factors are considered by a court when determining "fair use" ?
1. purpose & character of use 2. nature of the copyrighted work 3. amount of copyrighted work used 4. effect of the use upon the market or economic value of the copyrighted work
Can titles of individual books, magazines or movies be registered as trademarks?
No
Who enforces trademark protection?
The state courts
What can be Copyrighted?
a Copyright applies to literary, musical, dramatic, pictorial, sculptural, and audiovisual works. a copyright grants protection to a original work in fixed and tangible media format. The work must simply owe its origin to a particular author.
Patent
a patent is an intellectual property right to exclude others from making, using, advertising for sale or selling an invention or design for a specified period of time.
Trademark
a symbol, word, group of words, or logo that is used in connection with the sale of goods or products to distinguish them from those made or sold by someone else.
copyright infringement v. plagiarism
copyright - the unauthorized use of copyrighted work plagiarism - refers specifically to the use of another's work without proper acknowledgement of the original source, thus claiming the material's authorship
Who owns a copyright?
if the writer is an employee of a company, the copyright generally belongs to the company. if the writer is an IC then the writer owns the rights to their own work
intellectual property
intellectual property refers to those types of intangible property rights that are the products of creation, thought or invention.
What forms of intellectual property are generally not covered by a basic Media PLI policy? (2)
patents, trade secrets
What is the legal standard of "trademark infringement"?
the "likelihood of confusion".
Fair Use Doctrine
the fair use doctrine allows some use of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching or research.
piracy
the unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book, recording etc., patented invention, trademarked product or other protected material
Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998
this act clarifies the application of copyright law to digital content. It provides sanction for copyright infringement on the internet. ISPs (internet service providers) are carefully monitored under this act, however some ISPs can operated under "safe harbors"
Service Marks
words, names, symbols, sounds or colors that are used by companies that sell services rather than products
