Intellectual property refers to the creative work or invention of an individual or group of persons. In the creative industry, it is the rights of creators to their work. This is often as a result of applying their thoughts and ideas, and expressing them into tangible physical work that can be seen and used by others for entertainment or other benefits. The rights of artists and creatives are protected by governing bodies of the locations where the artists are located or situated. We need to be aware that intellectual rights in the context of writing –– or as it relates to the entertainments, arts, and publishing –– essentially, artists and published authors, is otherwise known as copyrights.
It is common knowledge that from the moment a written project is created, it becomes the property of the writer, and whoever needs to quote, borrow the words, or cite anything in the body of the written work, or project must first seek the permission of the creator, either directly, or through their appointed representative. To put this into context –– let’s assume a writer set out to write, and afterwards loans the computer he wrote this material to someone –– or, perhaps, they mistakenly email this content to say, another writer or creator –– if this other writer decides to copy from this work, either in part or full to recreate their own work, they’re essentially infringing on the rights of the original writer.
Under litigation, what the original writer needs to produce is the time and date stamp of such material (which is commonplace if using a computer) as proof that they’re the original creator of the work, and the case will be ruled in their favour, with repercussions to the property thief. Taking what you haven’t written and passing it off as your own is known as intellectual theft, and carries consequences depending on the severity and stipulated guideline of the governing body in the location the incident occurred. However, expressed ideas, no matter how original –– are not covered by copyright laws, because ideas aren’t in tangible form.
Ultimately, in other categories of the creative arts, say for instance video editing, filmmakers, photographers, etc., they have to protect their work within the legal remedies available in their locality. In a broader context, laws governing Intellectual Property deal with the protection of rights that accrue to the creators and/or co-creators of the created piece of work. Intellectual property deals with five areas including trademark, patents, competition and trade secrets, rights of publicity, and copyright. Copyright Act in its various forms are the primary laws governing intellectual property, and mainly deals with protecting artistic works of creatives including literary works, artistic, dramatic and theatrical, musical, architecture, photography, computer programs and a host of other creative forms.
Note that this is different from Industrial Act which is where industrial designs, patents, and trademarks are covered, in some locations. Basically, the created work which is the intellectual property of the creative belongs to them exclusively, with the exception being when such work was created for transfer of rights to someone else, or a creative was commissioned to create work for someone else. Other than these exceptions, all intellectual property relies with the creator. And they have the right to use the property at will, own the right to transfer, or trade the rights. They have the right to prevent anyone from using their property without their expressly written permission.
As a creative, caution is advised when seeking inspiration from any created work by other artists, as this can unwittingly result in an infringement of the intellectual property of the original creator. This can even be as simple as making derivative works of said materials –– sometimes citing and crediting the original creator isn’t enough to protect you from infringing on their intellectual property right. For instance, photographed work belongs to the photographer, except in cases where there’s an agreement between the photographer and their client.
Recourse can be sought on the part of the original creator of a stolen work by reporting the work for an infringement, either through an injunction, payment of damages, and unlawful profits made from the infringement of their rights. A popular one that comes to minds is the case between award winning British singer and songwriter Sting, and popular hip-pop star Diddy who “sampled’ the former’s single without permission and was rightly sued for huge damages. Besides payment of damages, it’s not uncommon for an infringement to be classified a criminal offence punishable by criminal sanctions. For instance, in certain locations, an infringement of any rights protected under the governing copyright law can fetch perpetrators years in prison, some as long as ten years, in lieu of damages, and sometimes even both.
By Chinenye Emezie | Contributing Writer
