IP Rights and their Importance in the Creative Industries

 

Intellectual property(IP) refers to the creations of the mind such as inventions, literacy and artistic works, designs and symbols, names and images used in commerce. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 is the law that protects a person(s) IP and this can be anything from and idea to a physical invention. You do however have to pay for a patent or to own copyright over an idea unless you can prove in the court of law that you came up with the idea or invention first. 

IP rights play a big part in web development as using graphics or text for any website without permission from the owner can result in a lawsuit. When you search for an image online there is an option to choose what licence the image holds. Public domain images are free to use, sometimes however licensed images can be mixed up in a search and this is why I find it safer to use my own pictures and logos when I create a website. This does however have its setbacks as taking and editing images takes more time and logo creation can sometimes become a tiresome task. You can have anything from 2-50 logos created for a client before settling on the one they feel is right.

Free stock images

You can pay and subscribe to libraries of images that for a subscription fee become yours use how you please. Libraries such as Shutterstock and iStock hold thousands of images on their sites that are easily accessible at a fee. 

Subscribing and paying a fee no matter how small can add up with software and domain fees however and when you are just starting out you need to be careful of spending more a month than you earn. That is why I would highly recommend using Royalty free images that can be found at pixabay and unsplash.com

Written Work

It must also be brought to consideration that if you are using quotes or phrases from written work that is not common knowledge you must give the owner the acknowledgement. When using text on a website that say a company that wants to use a quote from someone else it must be printed correctly for example. 

" Have no fear of perfection, You'll never reach it" - Salvador Dali

 In-text citations and Reference lists are both types of citations used to cite information sources. These two types of citations are part of the Harvard Referencing: Guide. Harvard is a style of referencing.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is when someone takes the idea, method or written words from someone else without acknowledgement or permission. All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this definition. Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional and under the regulations both are an offence.

Forms of plagiarism:

• Verbatim (word for word) Quotations must always be used and full referencing of the sources cited.
• Cutting and Pasting without clear acknowledgement. Information derived from the internet must be adequately referenced and included in the bibliography of reports.
• Paraphrasing the work of others by changing a few words here and there or changing the order of words or sentences.
• Collusion failure to attribute assistance received or failure to follow precise regulations on group work. Being clear about the extent of any collaboration. 
• Inaccurate citation it is important to cite correctly as well as listing sources you must indicate where a quoted passage has come from.    

Sources

 UK government Laws- gov.uk ,  (What is intellectual property) WIPO