LEI - Intellectual Property (Lesson)

 

Intellectual Property Lesson

How do artists, photographers, writers, and those who have created original material protect their creative works from being copied, manipulated, or sold without their permission once uploaded to digital media? Creative works are protected by the concept of intellectual property. These types of works are those created by the mind and are considered real property although you technically cannot physically touch them. Examples of creative works include songs, photographs, art, and writings. Two types that protect intangible creative works are copyrights and trademarks.

Copyright

Watch the video to learn about copyright.

Download Copyright Video Transcript Links to an external site..

Trademark

If an individual or business would like a brand identity for their original creative work or business, they would create a trademark. This is another form of intellectual property consisting of a word, phrase, symbol, or image legally registered and used to identify a company or product. Trademarks prevent other businesses from using parts similar to another business.

A trademark protects items that define a company such as:

  • Brand names
  • Logos
  • Business names
  • Slogans
  • Packaging

In order for businesses to protect their brand using a trademark, they must register them with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The most difficult part of registering your trademark is choosing the right class. There are forty-five classes. Your trademark will only be valid for the classes you register them under. Classes one through thirty-four are for goods and classes thirty-five through forty-five are for services. Some trademarks will have more than one class to fall under. A business will have to pay a fee for each class it registers a trademark under.

Click on a number to review the trademark class that it represents.

Differences Between Copyright And Trademark

Copyright and trademark are both intellectual properties, but they are not the same. Review the differences from the chart below.

Copyright VS Trademark

Plagiarism

As a student, the word plagiarism is already very familiar. You have heard your teachers tell you to cite your sources for a paper that you had to write or a presentation you had to complete numerous times. Why is this important to do? If you use someone else’s words or creative works, you must reference them to give them the credit. If not, you are taking credit from someone else’s work as yours and this is called plagiarism.   

Because of copyright laws, students can use extracts from another person’s work without permission, provided they give proper credit or documentation. This use of copyrighted material is called fair use. Fair use only covers using quotes or portions of a work in teaching, research, or news reporting without obtaining permission. Although there are no specific guidelines for a specific number of words or lines that can be used, students may be given a limit to how much they can use from a source. For example, you may be instructed to write a paper and the directions state that you cannot cite more than 10% of a source’s creative works or use more than 500 words depending on the material being used.  

To avoid plagiarizing words, images, and videos from digital media, use proper website citations. There are five basic components of a proper website source citation:

  • Author
  • Date
  • Title of Article
  • Access Date
  • URL

Digital Piracy

Digital content is easily accessible to copy and download. The unauthorized downloading, duplication, and distribution of copyrighted music, videos, and software have been the cause for artists and businesses to lose billions of dollars. This illegal activity is called digital piracy. To avoid digital piracy, use open-source software. This type of software comes with a source code that gives public users the right to use, modify, enhance, and distribute.

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