Public Domains as related to Intellectual Property

May 10, 2011
Copyright ©

Public domains refer to work not covered by copyright anymore. Public domains as related to literary, artistic, broadcasting, and musical products are works for which the copyright may have expired or for which no intellectual property rights exist or the copyrights have been forfeited. Some famous examples of public domains are that of Shakespeare works and music composed by Beethoven.

Public domains refer to information and works which are available to the public and can be used by the public because there are no intellectual property rights attached. The first time the term was used in copyright was in 1710 in the UK. Ideas are not protected by copyright law, only the material expression of such ideas. Mathematical formulas fall within the scope of public domain, but algorithms can be protected by some intellectual property rights.

Any works created before copyright laws are in public domain. It should be noted that translations and adaptations don’t form part of public domains. If the copyright on a work expires the work can fall into public domain. Government works generally fall within public domains, unless the work is enacted into law.

Public domain works form an integral part of the modern knowledge base and such should be used as sources of information. One must note that although a work is in public domain, you may still not present it as your own. You may use it, adapt it and make it available, but the work cannot be called yours unless you have substantially added onto it. Many databases exist for public domains where Internet users can locate work that can be freely copied and used without the fear of copyright infringement.

Contact us for legal advice regarding the usage of public domains and how to prevent your works from becoming public domain.

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Copyfraud

March 7, 2011
Copyright ©

Copyfraud refers to the practice of lodging a false claim on copyright to commercially benefit and gain control over the work or works which do not legally belong to a person or entity.

Jason Mazzone has introduced the term to copyright theory. At the time of coining the term he was Associate Professor of Law at a well-known law school in the USA.

Accordingly copyfraud is used to describe actions which entail claiming of copyright over material that is in public domain or on the basis of ownership regarding copies, and publishing work in public domain in another medium and then claiming copyright.

According to Jason Mazzone, such attempts at copyfraud often succeed since the enforcement of the copyright laws is not strict enough and also because there is a lack of expertise regarding copyrights on such materials.

In layman’s terms, a person that claims copyright on a work which is indeed already in public domain, therefore commits copyfraud. One example of such an attempt was the instance where a company bought the right to perform a specific piece of opera at a price set as 50 000 USD. After more than a year of performances, the company gained information leading them to realise that the right bought was on a work already in public domain.

They stopped paying royalties and were subsequently sued for the amount due. They defended their action successfully and a trial court awarded them damages to the amount of the royalties already paid.

Many works have already passed into public domain and a growing number of copyfraud cases have been reported where people sell the public domain works as copyright protected material. As such they give the impression that they have copyrights over the works and are thus entitled to compensation and with that commit copyfraud.

This has become a huge problem on the Internet over the past few years, robbing society from free access to classic works.

Contact us at Smit & Van Wyk Intellectual Property Attorneys for legal guidance and litigation assistance regarding copyfraud cases.

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Intellectual Property Registration Office

March 7, 2011
Intellectual Property News

The Intellectual Property Registration Office oversees the registration of various types of intellectual property including that of trademarks, copyright, designs, and patents. The Intellectual Property Registration Office is located in Pretoria where applications are lodged.

Although with most works protected under the copyright laws of South Africa, you will not be able to apply for copyright registration as it is automatically implied the moment the work is put into tangible form, you need to apply formally at the Intellectual Property Registration Office for registration of copyright on a film or video for commercial use.

Several forms which can be obtained from the Intellectual Property Registration Office should be completed in duplicate including the RF1, RF2, RF3, and RF9 which should be submitted together with a “Statement of Case”. When making use of attorneys to file the applications, you must provide the lawyers with a Power of Attorney letter, which will be submitted at the Intellectual Property Registration Office.

It is a non-investigating patent office, meaning that although a formal examination is made regarding the patent application that the responsibility rests with the applicant to ensure complete novelty, meeting of the various requirements, and correct wording of the claims. As such it is imperative to make use of intellectual property attorneys to help ensure that all of the above requirements are met when filing a patent application.

A patent search can be done online via the Intellectual Property Registration Office website. One can search the patent databases at CIPRO which stands for the Companies Intellectual Property Registration Office by means of keywords, titles, and inventors.

Although a patent may not be present or pending in the CIPRO database, it can still be mentioned in a trade journal. With that in mind the intellectual property attorneys conduct an extremely thorough patent search making use of various databases and sources.

Contact us at Smit & Van Wyk Attorneys today to assist with any applications which must be submitted to the Intellectual Property Registration Office.

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Get the help of an Intellectual Property Lawyer

January 15, 2010
Intellectual Property Information

You may require the assistance of an intellectual property lawyer when you have infringed on the rights of an intellectual property holder.

This can easily happen when you have a website and have used material from another site to create an article. If not properly sited and if you don’t have the written permission from the author to use the graphics or information, the party may file a lawsuit against you. Normally a request will first follow to remove the information from your site. Do so immediately and if further steps have been taken by the party call in the help of an intellectual property lawyer.

The best advice is to always seek permission first before using the information. Another instance is where a company requests that you no longer use a design or logo because it causes public confusion since they have a trademark that is similar to yours.

This will be more complicated since you may have done branding with the logo and as such will have to establish whether you have in fact infringed on their rights.

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Role of the Intellectual Property Attorney

January 15, 2010
Intellectual Property Information

An intellectual property attorney deals with all types of intellectual property whether copyright, patent, trademark or design related. To fully understand the role of the intellectual property attorney we have to look at the term intellectual property.

It refers to creations of the mind whereby the owners of the rights have monopolies over the usage of their creations and have the right to benefit commercially from that.

The intellectual property attorney applies for patent rights, trademark registration and copyright registration on behalf of the client, but can also assist with the setting up of usage agreements. At the other end of the spectrum the intellectual property attorney can take legal steps on behalf of the client when a third party has infringed on the intellectual property rights of the client.

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