I started this series a few days ago and the previous blogs are as follows:-

First Blog
Second Blog

There were many responses from people from all walks of life who are concerned about their intellectual property rights. Well, since this is the new age, ideas are goldmines and many people who are unaware of their rights get exploited. One pertinent question that was asked of me came in this form....

To me it is important to clarify doubts. There are certain changes in law that may not applicable any longer or the law only applies to certain legal jurisdiction. The legal question that was posed is a correct position in countries that applies the common law, which means there is no specific legislation to cover that area. But the position will differ when an Act of Parliament comes into place.

Time to Recognise Intellectual Property as Assets

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It is common for people to regard what they can see and feel as property with real value. There is lesser regard to other form of property that are intangible in nature and does not have any physical existence. This perception ought to change with progress. In a society that is progressing, the work of an artist or a musical composition can be valued as much as a physical property such as a car or a house.

To make things simpler, here is a checklist for people who are interested to protect their intellectual property rights.

This checklist is a general checklist and maybe different for different jurisdiction.

(the character designs is a creation of Sead Studios owned by @rambai and created by @aurah)

The Million Dollar Question

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The entire 3 series of legal gymnastics that I have prepared in the last week culminating to this post is to finally ask this question which is plaguing many of my friends are are artists in #steem-cartoon. Not everyone is an artist and own their own company that keeps the intellectual property rights of their creation like @rambai. There could be a collection of artists that creates an animation series and they are all part of the team, what rights do they have in respect of the work that was produced.

I am sure that we have seen credits shown after a movie has ended, the basis behind these credits is a legal one. Just because the company owns the commercial right to the work, it does not take away the artist's or the contributor's right of attribution. Example, if the background artist is @aurah but the credit has gone to another party or not mentioned, the original author can demand that proper attribution must be made to him. However this right can be waived.

Source

Can an Employee assert his Rights as an Author?

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A simple answer is yes. An author will always have an inalienable right. This right has very limited application, it is in effect the right to prevent desecration of the author's work. In other words, it is meant to protect the honour of the author. For example if an artist works for a studio and his works are all meant for the studio's business purposes which could be meant for children cartoon strips but was instead used as an adult material. The author can object to such use to prevent an abuse to his honour and integrity.

In short, if the commercial rights has been 'sold' by way of an employment, the work created during the course of employment belongs to the company. The commercial rights to use those work are solely that of the company. However, if the author produces a biography of him life as an artist and wishes to showcase his work, he can because the purpose in so doing does not clash with the purpose of employment.

There must be a proper distinction made between an artist that is engaged as a full time artist and an artist that is paid for separate and each piece of work. The entire idea creation by a full time artist wholly belongs to the company, whilst for a part time artist, only the final product belongs to the company. This is a very sensitive area because sometimes the best ideas are hatched during an process of idea creation. We have heard of success stories involving ideas which were not the final product that anticipated but through another totally independent idea development.

Source

There is a limited room for a full time employed artist to assert a commercial right for his own work. A part time artist however has more leeway because the commercial right that he has sold is the final artwork. The entire thought process is something that he can manipulate and derive a separate benefit for himself.

Can Registration be Challenged?

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Yes. Not all registrations are legitimate. There will be some work that does not belong to the person who first took it to the registrar. Hence it can be challenged and the decision of the registrar either to register or to strike out the registration can be appealable.

Source

We often see these symbols and alphabets and it has certain meaning. It means how the mark is protected and the stage of protection.

R = Registered Copyright
TM = Trade Mark
C = Copyright

In Malaysia, McDonalds are not able to register their famous 'M' under McDonalds because the name has been taken, hence they use the name 'Golden Arches'.

credit to @zomagic