Copyright law grants authors, composers,
computer programmers, website designers and
other creators legal protection for their literary,
artistic, dramatic and other types of creations,
which are usually referred to as “works.”
Copyright law protects a wide variety of
original works, such as books, magazines,
newspapers, music, paintings, photographs,
sculptures, architecture, films, computer
programs, video games and original databases .
Copyright law gives an author or creator of a work a diverse bundle of exclusive rights over his/her work for a limited but rather lengthy period of time. These rights enable the author to control the economic use of his work in a number of ways and to receive payment. Copyright law also provides “moral rights,” which protect, amongst other things, an author’s reputation and integrity.
“Related rights” refer to the category of rights granted to performers, phonogram producers and broadcasters. In some countries, such as the United States of America and the United Kingdom, these rights are simply incorporated under copyright. Other countries, such as Germany and France, protect these rights under the separate category called “neighbouring rights.”
There are three kinds of “related rights” or “neighboring rights”:
1. Rights of performers (e.g., actors, musicians) in their performances. They include a live performance of a pre-existing artistic, dramatic or musical work, or a live recitation or reading of a pre-existing literary work. The work performed need not be previously fixed in any medium or form, and may be in the public domain or protected by copyright. The performance may also be an improvised one, whether original or based on a pre-existing work.
2. Rights of producers of sound recordings (or “phonograms”) in their recordings (e.g., compact discs); and
3. Rights of broadcasting organizations in their radio and television programs transmitted over the air and, in some countries, rights in the transmission of works via cablesystems (so-called cable castings)
Copyright and related rights protect works of different categories of right holders. While copyright protects the works of the authors themselves, related rights are granted to certain categories of people or businesses that play an important role in performing, communicating or disseminating works to the public that may or may not be protected by copyright.
Example: In the case of a song, copyright protects the music of the composer and the words of the author (lyricist and/or writer). Related rights would apply to the:
Performances of the musicians and singers who perform the song; Sound recording of the producer in which the song is included; and
Broadcast program of the organization that produces and broadcasts the program containing the song.
A large number of countries are signatories to several important international treaties that have helped to harmonize, to a considerable extent, the level of copyright and related rights protection amongst countries. In a very large number of countries, this has made it possible for works to benefit from copyright protection without any formalities or requirement of registration
Depending on the nature of your creation, you may also be able to use one or more of the following types of intellectual property rights to protect your business interests:
Trademarks. A trademark provides exclusivity over a sign (such as a word, logo, color or combination of these) which helps to distinguish the products of a business from those of others.
Industrial designs. Exclusivity over the ornamental or aesthetic features of a product may be obtained through the protection of industrial designs, which are known as “design patents” in some countries.
Patents. Patents may protect inventions that meet the criteria of novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability.
Confidential business information of commercial value may be protected as a trade secret, as long as reasonable steps are taken by its owner to keep the information confidential or secret.
Unfair competition laws may allow you to take action against unfair business behavior of competitors. Protection under unfair competition law may often grant some additional protection against copying of different aspects of products beyond what is possible through the various types of intellectual property rights. Even so, generally speaking, protection under the laws governing the various specific types of intellectual property rights is stronger than the protection available under the general national law against unfair competition.
Sometimes, a number of intellectual property rights are used (simultaneously or sequentially) for protecting creative works. For example, both copyright and trademark law protect Mickey Mouse. © Disney Enterprises, Inc. Used by permission from The Walt Disney Company
To qualify for copyright protection, a work must be original. An original work is one that ‘originates’ in its expression from the author, that is, the work was independently created and was not copied from the work of another or from materials in the public domain. The exact meaning of originality under copyright law differs from one country to another. In any case, originality relates to the form of expression and not to the underlying idea
Ideas or concepts. Copyright law only protects the way ideas or concepts are expressed in a particular work. It does not protect the underlying idea, concept, discovery, method of operation, principle, procedure, process, or system, regardless of the form in which it is described or embodied in a work. While a concept or method of doing something is not subject to copyright, written instructions or sketches explaining or illustrating the concept or method are protected by copyright.
Reference
http://www.wipo.int/
Copyright law gives an author or creator of a work a diverse bundle of exclusive rights over his/her work for a limited but rather lengthy period of time. These rights enable the author to control the economic use of his work in a number of ways and to receive payment. Copyright law also provides “moral rights,” which protect, amongst other things, an author’s reputation and integrity.
“Related rights” refer to the category of rights granted to performers, phonogram producers and broadcasters. In some countries, such as the United States of America and the United Kingdom, these rights are simply incorporated under copyright. Other countries, such as Germany and France, protect these rights under the separate category called “neighbouring rights.”
There are three kinds of “related rights” or “neighboring rights”:
1. Rights of performers (e.g., actors, musicians) in their performances. They include a live performance of a pre-existing artistic, dramatic or musical work, or a live recitation or reading of a pre-existing literary work. The work performed need not be previously fixed in any medium or form, and may be in the public domain or protected by copyright. The performance may also be an improvised one, whether original or based on a pre-existing work.
2. Rights of producers of sound recordings (or “phonograms”) in their recordings (e.g., compact discs); and
3. Rights of broadcasting organizations in their radio and television programs transmitted over the air and, in some countries, rights in the transmission of works via cablesystems (so-called cable castings)
Copyright and related rights protect works of different categories of right holders. While copyright protects the works of the authors themselves, related rights are granted to certain categories of people or businesses that play an important role in performing, communicating or disseminating works to the public that may or may not be protected by copyright.
Example: In the case of a song, copyright protects the music of the composer and the words of the author (lyricist and/or writer). Related rights would apply to the:
Performances of the musicians and singers who perform the song; Sound recording of the producer in which the song is included; and
Broadcast program of the organization that produces and broadcasts the program containing the song.
A large number of countries are signatories to several important international treaties that have helped to harmonize, to a considerable extent, the level of copyright and related rights protection amongst countries. In a very large number of countries, this has made it possible for works to benefit from copyright protection without any formalities or requirement of registration
Depending on the nature of your creation, you may also be able to use one or more of the following types of intellectual property rights to protect your business interests:
Trademarks. A trademark provides exclusivity over a sign (such as a word, logo, color or combination of these) which helps to distinguish the products of a business from those of others.
Industrial designs. Exclusivity over the ornamental or aesthetic features of a product may be obtained through the protection of industrial designs, which are known as “design patents” in some countries.
Patents. Patents may protect inventions that meet the criteria of novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability.
Confidential business information of commercial value may be protected as a trade secret, as long as reasonable steps are taken by its owner to keep the information confidential or secret.
Unfair competition laws may allow you to take action against unfair business behavior of competitors. Protection under unfair competition law may often grant some additional protection against copying of different aspects of products beyond what is possible through the various types of intellectual property rights. Even so, generally speaking, protection under the laws governing the various specific types of intellectual property rights is stronger than the protection available under the general national law against unfair competition.
Sometimes, a number of intellectual property rights are used (simultaneously or sequentially) for protecting creative works. For example, both copyright and trademark law protect Mickey Mouse. © Disney Enterprises, Inc. Used by permission from The Walt Disney Company
To qualify for copyright protection, a work must be original. An original work is one that ‘originates’ in its expression from the author, that is, the work was independently created and was not copied from the work of another or from materials in the public domain. The exact meaning of originality under copyright law differs from one country to another. In any case, originality relates to the form of expression and not to the underlying idea
Ideas or concepts. Copyright law only protects the way ideas or concepts are expressed in a particular work. It does not protect the underlying idea, concept, discovery, method of operation, principle, procedure, process, or system, regardless of the form in which it is described or embodied in a work. While a concept or method of doing something is not subject to copyright, written instructions or sketches explaining or illustrating the concept or method are protected by copyright.
Reference
http://www.wipo.int/
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