Legal issues

Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual property law-
What all new products require -

• Developing new products 
• Creating eye catching designs 
• Creating a good brand 

How do you protect your ideas from being exploited from others? 

Intellectual property known as the IP law

Trying to protect your ideas from being exploited.


4 areas of the IP law - 

1. Trade marks-

• Used by businesses to protect their brands.
• Can be registered in the UK.
• Applies to name, logo or both.
• Trade marks only need renewing every 10 years. 

2. Copy rights-

• Copy rights Exists in documents, maps, plans, websites and photos
• Copy right can last up to 70 years after your life time. 
• Copy rights last alot longer and you do not have to renew constantly 

3. Design rights-

• An advantage is that they are not expensive 
• If people buy your products from the way that they look you would want to know about design rights. E.G jewellery 
• Design rights cover the UK and abroad. 
• If you dont register it you will have unregistered design rights are free.
• If you dont register it then you may have rights you dont even know about. 

4. Patents - 

• If you invent a new product or process then think about PATENTS.
• Patents can last up to 20 years and registering it can be very complicated and also is a very expensive process. 
• Even though it is expensive and complicated it is beneficial because you can get professional advice. 

Star Wars copyright article - 

• A prop designer who made the original Stormtrooper helmets for Star wars has won copyright battle with director George Lucas over his right to sell replicas. 
• The man spent half a decade and almost £700,000 fighting the full force of a movie moguls legal team and Andrew Ainsworth refused to be weighed down. 
• Bailiffs demanded £12 million and defended the onslaught in court.
• "PANDORAS BOX' - To his surprise they fetched £60,000 at Christies, which left him in no doubt about their potential.
• The fans recognised them as the real thing but by the time he sold 19 to the US Lucas did too. 
• Lucasfilm sued for $20 million in 2004 and he argued that Ainsworth did not hold the intellectual property rights and had no right to sell them. This was upheld by court. 
• The designer had no assets in the US so it moved to the UK 
• It was ruled there was an "implied contract" 
• Court rejected the billionaire directors claim and the focused moved to design rights, whether the helmets sold were works of art or industrial props. 
• Lucas film could convince the courts the 3D works were sculptures, they would be protected by copyright for the life of the author plus 70 years
• If this did not happen, copyright protection would be reduced 15 years from the date that they were marketed. 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT -

• The Tory MP claimed journalists 'misuse' Fol requests - cheers a selection of public interest stories that would never have emerged without the act.
• According to conservative MP Chris Grayling journalists misuse the freedom of information act to create other stories. 
• Journalists from national, local trade press there are generally some exceptions. 
• There are 103 different examples of why Gravling has been proved wrong. 
• There are issues of domestic abuse, gross expenditure, wrongdoing, spying, child abuse, cybercrime, dodgy landlords, inflated bonuses, spurious expense claims and more. 
• Only 40 of 250 returning jihadis in UK face prosecution: the sun 
• Clare law 1,300 domestic abuse disclosures made on BBC news. 
• BBC were accused of spying after nearly 150 staff emails accessed or monitored. 
• Two children aged 7 and 8 suspected of rape as figures reveal almost 1000 alleged child criminals last year

Data Protection act - 

• The UK law says that all business operating in the UK must follow the 8 principles. 
• The average person living in the UK has around 4000 pieces of data collected from businesses and then stored in 1000 data bases each week. 
• Customer data is the life blood of every business on the planet. 
• The data needs to be secured fairly and safely 
• The 8 principles are the law but also just the right thing to do.

8 principles - 

1. Requires the data subjects consent

2. Should onky be kept for the reason it was collected

3. Should be kept accurate

4. Shoukd be kept up to date

5. Should only be kept for as long as its needed

6. Should be made available to the data subject

7. Should be processed securely 

8. Should only be processed within in the UK 

Copyright, designs and patents act 1998 -

• A person can recreate exisiting media or new media in anyway they want. 
• Only something that publishing houses and big movies in the film industry use.
• Only originally applied to big newspaper firms and film industries. 
• It is all available online however doesnt mean it is free or legal. 
• Respect the people in the music industry by purchasing their songs and not downloadign them illegally because they should make money on their products. (ethically correct).

Libel Law 

Katie Hopkins Libel Law-

Define libel law: Libel law is a method when you intentionally try to damage the good reputation of someone expressed by print, writing, pictures and any communication in physical form that is possible to ruin a persons reputation.

Katie hopkins tweeted about Jack Monroe saying that she 'ruined' a memorial for those who have fought for this country, and then asked if her grandma has any spare medals. Monroe felt as if Katie Hopkins ruined her reputation and therefore sued her. After 21 months of court cases and lawyers, Monroe won the case and Hopkins had to pay £107,000 in the period of 28 days just to her solicitors and £24,000, just to Jack Monroe.


Slander -

'Owners of a subway shop in Utah sue for defamation in what police once said was a soda drugging case'
Layton police said the employee planted drugs in an officers drink, but no evidence was found.

• The owners of the Layton subway shop are suing the city for defamation after their employee was accused of drugging a police officers drink.
• Franchise owners said in the lawsuit that sales dropped off a lot after police publicized the drink spiking assertion.
• Also several employees quit working in the shop after they were question by the police. 
• "This is an unusual case that deals with constitutional defamation or slander by a public agency, a police department in this case. 
• Officers accused an 18 year old working in the drive thru of lacing an officers lemonade with methamphetamine and THC (element in marijuana).

Human Rights act 2014 - 

• Human rights are the values of society that keep people FAIR, JUST AND EQUAL
• It is used to protect against the elderly, children, people in care, people with mental illness, victims of abuse, prisoners, teachers and mentally ill people. 
• Our human rights are protected by the law that means we can do something if our rights are attacked.
• Over the years we have developed our own rights, especially on equality and equal and fair rights. (For example, gay marriage has become legal). (Also women can now vote).
• People want to take the human rights act down. Years and years ago only the upper class got rights but now we have fought so hard for rights. 
• Human rights doesn't exist in countries such as China and North Korea because they have always been dictated by what the king says.
• World war 2 Hitler over the rights - After world war 2 Europe stuck together and decided that wasn't going to happen again and that they weren't going to be dictated by one person
  
• After world was 2 the European convention on human rights was published and discussed that this could never happen again.
• The european convention on human rights was a simple document. It puts rights not rulers at the heart of society.  Some of these included the right to life, right to liberty and security, freedom of expression and speech.
• Then in 1998 (50 years after) the government then wrote the human rights act. UK law public hospitals, schools must be able to express there human rights. 
• In hospitals, patients we are entitled too compassion. Journalists are under no obligation to reveal their sources. 
• Soldiers must be given the correct equipment so they are equal and all given a fair chance. 
• We are all treated equally and if we are found innocent, there is no obligation for them to keep our DNA. They have to get rid of it if you have been proven innocent.
• We have to be treated fairly everywhere. They are part of our British heritage. UK law and government.