Copyright & Intellectual Property

Intellectual property = intangible property resulting from the use of one's mind and thoughts (eg. songs, advertisement slogans, books etc.)

Personal property = physical, tangible objects you own.

Intellectual Property Law and rights relate to rights that are or are tangentially related to copyright.

Industrial Property Law and rights deal with trademarks, patents and designs (i.e. commercialised products).

They are technically different areas but, for the most part, they're subcategories that form the broader study of intellectual property.

Intellectual Property Rights

• Preventative or negative rights = it doesn’t give you the right to do something (positive rights) but it prevents others from doing something (interfering with your intellectual property).

THE “IDEA - EXPRESSION DICHOTOMY”

Copyright can only apply to an expression of an idea (eg. If a person decides to write a love song, the idea of writing a love song in itself is not subject to copyright. However if they act on this idea and actually write the song, the song is subject to copyright and is entitled to protection.) Copyright protects the expressions of ideas but not the ideas themselves.

Expressions have to be/ cannot be :

1. Factual (day of birth, place of birth etc. are not ideas in the first place) - cannot be

2. Fixated (the idea has to be expressed in a tangible form) - have to be

3. Original (an idea may take inspiration from preexisting objects or ideas but must have original characteristics that make it distinguishable and original) - have to be

Once the idea is expressed, copyright subsists in the expression. Meaning that the entity (person, multiple people, company,...) behind the idea and expression becomes a copyright owner. They may therefore exercise their rights if there's a reason to do so.

Recent famous cases:

1. Ed Sheeran & Sami Chokri, Ross O'Donoghue

Artist Sami Chokri (Sami Switch) and music producer Ross O'Donoghue claimed that Sheeran's 2017 hit "Shape of You" infringed their 2015 song "Oh Why". Judge Anthony Zacaroli ruled the claim to be false stating that "while there are similarities" between the two songs, "there are also significant differences." Furthermore he stated that there was no evidence that Sheeran had intentionally or subconsciously copied from "Oh Why" when he wrote "Shape of You".

read more here

2. Olivia Rodrigo & Paramore (singer Hayley Williams and ex-guitarist Josh Farro)

It is thought that to avoid a court case Rodrigo's team made the decision to add Hayley Williams and Josh Farro to the writing credits as co-writers of the track. Along with that, the production credits have also been updated to include an interpolation of Misery Business. This is just one of the many ways a situation like this can be resolved.

read more here

* Thank you for reading. Please note that at no point in this blog am I providing legal advice or claiming to be a professional. These blogs are for entertainment and educational purposes only.*