Monday, 26 July 2010
Monday, 8 March 2010
What can you do if someone steals your work?
Mark Stephens from Finers Stephens Innocent said this afternoon that there are four options:
1. Nothing – he says it's the most popular option: too expensive or difficult.
2. Civil court action – to claim damages for copyright infringement.
3. Go to see a lawyer – it can be expensive, but you can also try on a "no-win, no-fee" basis. Taking an infringer to a criminal court is an often underused possibility but introduced in the UK's Copyright Act due to the rise in bootlegging.
4. Take the Twitter route to name and shame: www.own-it.org/news/twitter-campaign-sparked-against-paperchase-following-claims-of-copyright-infringement.
What do you think is the most effective?
1. Nothing – he says it's the most popular option: too expensive or difficult.
2. Civil court action – to claim damages for copyright infringement.
3. Go to see a lawyer – it can be expensive, but you can also try on a "no-win, no-fee" basis. Taking an infringer to a criminal court is an often underused possibility but introduced in the UK's Copyright Act due to the rise in bootlegging.
4. Take the Twitter route to name and shame: www.own-it.org/news/twitter-campaign-sparked-against-paperchase-following-claims-of-copyright-infringement.
What do you think is the most effective?
Case study: Jenny Tillotson
Jenny Tillotson of Scentsory Design spoke this afternoon with her team of advisers about the Train IP case study that is currently in development. It provides students and HE educators with an insight into the development of intellectual property (IP) from a university researcher's perspective, including the struggles to get information and guidance about IP in the first place. The full case study, along with supporting guidance and material, will be available on the Train IP blog in the coming weeks.
New business models for old?
Jeremy Silver from Media Clarity gave an engaging talk this morning about copyright in the music industry. 'The industry is at a tipping point,' he said, contrasting the decline worldwide in CD sales (decreasing at a rate of about 17% a year) with the growth in live music sales and file sharing as a means for consumers to enjoy and share music.
He talked too about the implications of audience fragmentation, explaining that many consumers are now just as likely – if not more likely – to consume media on the web rather than on traditional formats such as TV or radio. These new channels have also led to a new culture of creativity, he explained, such as mashups or remixes of others' work. This blurs the lines of who does what in IP terms: who is the creator; who is the director/producer; who owns the final product?
This is not a trend that businesses can overlook. According to his figures (presentation coming soon for download): 30% of all internet traffic is distributed via a BitTorrent – a staggering figure. As proof of this point, he also said that internet traffic plunged by half after the Pirate Bay trial in February 2009 in Sweden. Up until that point there had been 1.8 users a minute on the website. Internet traffic returned to its previous heights in October 2009 said Silver, but now half of it is encrypted, and therefore more difficult to trace.
The world has moved on, stressed Silver, but business models haven’t; for example, the music industry continues its practice of releasing new songs on the radio eight weeks before they are available for purchase in retail stores. Little wonder then, he suggested, that consumers are downloading the songs (legally or illegally).
He argued for the need to reform copyright and rights management in the music industry, saying that: we need to bundle digital rights and unify collecting societies to manage recorded and publishing rights in one go. 'It's currently too difficult to sort out what needs to be cleared and with whom.'
In addition, Silver put forward the view that our notion of copyright was in itself outdated: 'We have a basic view of copyright that says it’s all about blocking copying,' he said, 'but these days, that's almost impossible. You can't stop people copying, which means that the law itself doesn't work.'
But Silver said that often more important to creators than preventing copying was the need to enforce attribution and getting paid for use. 'In that sense, copyright would work better as a right to getting paid and to attribution, but not to reproduction as it's too late, that’s gone,' said Silver, although he conceded that that could make it difficult to enforce moral rights; for example, to not use a creator's song to advertise a product that they did not agree with.'
To find out more, look out for Jeremy Silver's presentation. Coming soon.
He talked too about the implications of audience fragmentation, explaining that many consumers are now just as likely – if not more likely – to consume media on the web rather than on traditional formats such as TV or radio. These new channels have also led to a new culture of creativity, he explained, such as mashups or remixes of others' work. This blurs the lines of who does what in IP terms: who is the creator; who is the director/producer; who owns the final product?
This is not a trend that businesses can overlook. According to his figures (presentation coming soon for download): 30% of all internet traffic is distributed via a BitTorrent – a staggering figure. As proof of this point, he also said that internet traffic plunged by half after the Pirate Bay trial in February 2009 in Sweden. Up until that point there had been 1.8 users a minute on the website. Internet traffic returned to its previous heights in October 2009 said Silver, but now half of it is encrypted, and therefore more difficult to trace.
The world has moved on, stressed Silver, but business models haven’t; for example, the music industry continues its practice of releasing new songs on the radio eight weeks before they are available for purchase in retail stores. Little wonder then, he suggested, that consumers are downloading the songs (legally or illegally).
He argued for the need to reform copyright and rights management in the music industry, saying that: we need to bundle digital rights and unify collecting societies to manage recorded and publishing rights in one go. 'It's currently too difficult to sort out what needs to be cleared and with whom.'
In addition, Silver put forward the view that our notion of copyright was in itself outdated: 'We have a basic view of copyright that says it’s all about blocking copying,' he said, 'but these days, that's almost impossible. You can't stop people copying, which means that the law itself doesn't work.'
But Silver said that often more important to creators than preventing copying was the need to enforce attribution and getting paid for use. 'In that sense, copyright would work better as a right to getting paid and to attribution, but not to reproduction as it's too late, that’s gone,' said Silver, although he conceded that that could make it difficult to enforce moral rights; for example, to not use a creator's song to advertise a product that they did not agree with.'
To find out more, look out for Jeremy Silver's presentation. Coming soon.
How do real people view piracy?
The question of whether what they are doing is legal is "quite far down the list" when consumers consider buying counterfeit goods, according to research cited by Paul Owens at BOP Consulting at this morning's event. We need to look at educating those consumers he said, but we also need to re-evaluate whether the current copyright system is working.
But Tibor Gold added that there was a distinction between private and public behaviour that needed to be taken into account. He said that while it may not be acceptable to sue an individual consumer for copying a film or music at home that didn't mean that it should become acceptable for companies to make commercial use of copied formats.
Gold also stressed the dangers of not cracking down on the use of counterfeit goods, giving as an example the dangerous use of non-legitimate goods in air aviation.
But Tibor Gold added that there was a distinction between private and public behaviour that needed to be taken into account. He said that while it may not be acceptable to sue an individual consumer for copying a film or music at home that didn't mean that it should become acceptable for companies to make commercial use of copied formats.
Gold also stressed the dangers of not cracking down on the use of counterfeit goods, giving as an example the dangerous use of non-legitimate goods in air aviation.
The UK's creative businesses need greater IP education and resources
The Teaching and advising on IP in the creative sector conference kicked off this morning in central London. The plenary session, featuring Tibor Gold MBE; Kelvin King, director, Valuation Consulting Limited; Paul Owens, director, BOP Consulting; Marice Cumber, director and founder of Own-it; and Dani Salvadori, director of Enterprise and Innovation at Central St Martins, is being filmed and will shortly be available online. In the meantime, bookmark this page for live blogging at the event.
Monday, 18 January 2010
Train the trainer conference announced
Own-it is working with the Centre for Competitive Creative Design, an interdisciplinary partnership between LCC (London College of Communication) and Cranfield University, on a pilot IP training and e-learning project aimed at creative business trainers and HE education professionals. It will provide tailored IP support to those professionals advising and guiding businesses that are innovation based and have IP at the core.
As part of this, we are running a two-day conference to provide a platform for debate on best business practice and new developments in IP management relevant to the creative sector. To find out more and to book a place, click here.
As part of this, we are running a two-day conference to provide a platform for debate on best business practice and new developments in IP management relevant to the creative sector. To find out more and to book a place, click here.
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