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| Home Page / Intellectual Property / What Creatives need toknow about IP | |||
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| WHAT CREATIVE
WORKERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IP Governments draft laws to protect IP rights for a limited time because they want to encourage innovation and the sharing of ideas in the longer term and to prevent misrepresentation and counterfeiting. People want to establish and protect their IP rights to guard against other people making money from their creative works. IP rights have no intrinsic value – they just help to decide who gets the profits if there are any. But if you want to benefit from creative work it is important to know not only about your own IP rights but also about the rights held by others. Protect your own rights. If you are in the business of creating something for sale, and you want to ensure someone else doesn’t benefit from your efforts, it is very important to know how to establish and protect your IP rights. Establishing your IP rights in something you make only benefits you financially when other people want to buy it, but it is a good insurance policy. Establish your IP rights. This can be done by registering designs, trademarks and patents; dating, signing and copyright-marking your work and acting quickly against infringement. Enforce your IP rights. It can be expensive to enforce your IP rights through the courts, but sometimes it is worth it – you need to work out the costs and potential benefits. Act ethically and prevent costly mistakes. If you are borrowing creative ideas from other people or registering your own trademarks and brands, it is important to make sure you are not infringing other people’s IP rights. This is not only unethical, but it can also be costly if they challenge you, and it can lead to brand confusion or to loss of profits through unnecessary advertising and legal fees. |
IP by sector: Publishing
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