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Intellectual property Notes
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Summarises key information on Copy Right for intellectual property law. This note has total 25 page.
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COPYRIGHTWhat is copyright?
- Taplin stated that ‘copyright may be described as a set of exclusive rights in
relation to … cultural creations.’
- Copyright refers to the protection of the independent expression of an idea
- Copyright exists when a piece of work is created under qualifying conditions
History of Copyright:
- Copyright law originated from the technology of the printing press
- During the 15th & 16th creators were granting privileges to printers
- The right to print a book was attained by entering the copy on the register
- Actions would be brought against unlicensed printers
- Licensing Act 1662 -> this codified the exclusive right of stationers company
to use the guild system (used to print books)
- The Licensing Act was replaced by the statute of Anne [1710]
- Statute Of Ann …
o This was the first copyright Act
o This statute gave authors and printers the ‘sole liberty’ to print and
re-print their books for 14 years with power to renew for another 14
year if the author was still alive during the 14 year period.
o Significance of this Act:
Broke the monopoly the stationers company had
Gave authors exclusive rights over their IP
Also granted purchasers the right to re-print
o Problem with the Act:
People argued that perpetual copyright existed
- Copyright Act [1814] …
o This replaced the statute of Ann
o It extended the protection of literary work to 28 years after
publication & if author was still alive then up until the duration of his
life.
- Copyright Amendment Act [1842 …
o Protection of literary work duration of life + 7 years or 42 years from
publication -> this was a longer period
- Fine Art Copyright Act [1862] …
o This gave the creators of paintings, drawings & photographs the sole
& exclusive right of copying, engraving & reproducing
- Copyright Act [1911] …
o Protection of works that were unrecognized – sound recordings,
architecture
o Protected unpublished work
o Gave protection for life +50 years
, o Requirement for registration of work with stationers company was
abolished
- Copyright [1956]…
o Granted protection of sound and television broadcasts – subject
matter
o There was no a distinction between subject matter, literary and
artistic works
- Copyright Designs & Patents Act [1988]…
o This Act removed the distinction between subject matter and works
o The owners rights were extended to distribution & rental rights –
moral rights in work
Sources of Copyright Law:
- There are 3 types of copy right law …
1. National copyright law
2. Regional copyright law
3. International copyright law
International and regional law ensure some uniformity in copyright law
1) National Copyright law …
o This is the law of individual countries.
o The UK copyright law is primarily contained in the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act (CDPA) 1988 – as well as case law interpreting that
statute.
2) Regional Copyright law …
o The UK must conform to regional copyright law.
o Regional copyright law refers to the copyright law of the EU.
o The EU has issued a number of regulations and directives on
copyright law – the most important of which is the Information
Society Directives 2001.
Information society directive seeks to harmonies copyright law
across the EU
o As a member of EU (for now) the UK national copyright law must
comply with the relevant EU copyright law.
3) International copyright law …
o International treaties on copyright – the UK is a signature of this
o The treaties are transposed into the UK law through statutes
o Bern Convention on the protection of artistic & literary works …
Signed in 1886 – 1st multilateral treaty on copyright law
Art.1 = protects literary & artistic works
Art.3 = lists who the protections apply to …
Art.4 = protects cinematography works
Art.5 = 2 fundamental principles …
1. Minimum rights
2. National treatment
, Art.5 (2) – ‘the enjoyment & exercise of these rights shall not
be subject to any formality’
Advantage = no registration which means less
expensive to enjoy the right & more accessible than
other IPRs such as trademark or patents.
Issue = trying to prove that a work is copyrightable
Countries that signed this convention cannot discriminate
between authors of another nationality.
o Trade Related aspects of IP (TRIPS) [1994] …
Art.9 = all provisions from Art.1-21 in the Berne Convention
must be adhered to
TRIPS extends the minimum rights afforded in the Berne
convention
Copyright protection extends to expressions & not ideas or
methods of operation
Art.11 – relates to computer programs & cinematographic
works
Copyrightable subject matter overview:
- The CDPA s1 states that copyright subsists in ‘works’
- The CDPA s1 gives an exhaustive list of what counts as a ‘work’ …
a) Original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works
b) Sound recordings, film or broadcasts
c) Typographical arrangement of published editions
What is literary work?
Examples of literary work = Books, Poems
S.3 (1) CDPA states that ‘literary work is any work, other than dramatic or
musical work – which is written, spoken & sung.
University of London Press Ltd v University Tutorial Press [1916]
- The Uni set out math exam for its students
- Issue = whether mathematics exam paper was ‘original literary work’
- Held: exam papers were literary works
- Literary work covers words in writing or in print irrespective of whether the
quality or style is high
Exxon v Exxon Insurance [1982]
- In this case the Chancery court held that the word ‘Exxon’ was not literary
work.
- The court held that a literary work must convey either information or
instruction, or provide pleasure & Exxon didn’t do so.
- Significance of this case = courts were reluctant to extend the copyright law
to names & phrases as this may affect the publics interest
- Words & phrases should be available for all to use (unless trademarked)
Infopaq [2009]
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