Oh boy here we go, it is time to talk about IPs and copyright. Excuse the lack of enthusiasm, it’s not a subject I enjoy talking about as I’ve had to write essays on it for about 4 college courses and hear about it at uni. Nevertheless, I will dive into it one final time and from now on if anyone wants to talk to me about copyright or the likes, I’m going to shove this blog post in their face.
Maybe. Unless I like them in which I will talk like a normal human being.
So once again let’s explore the what’s, why’s and how’s of IP rights, in what IP and copyright is, why they are important and how copyright law breakers will get punished.
What?
Anything
IP, or Intellectual Property, is the term given to someone’s idea. Both the idea and the product made from it, both come under the label of IP for the owner. This is where the almighty copyright comes in. All manner of things from physical objects that have been designed and crafted to songs written and recorded as well as films and games that have been meticulously planned and made are IPs for the creator. And are concurrently covered by the copyright laws. In some cases, they are owned by more than one party, in this case it is a Joint IP. Or as I would call a JIP for short.
Copyright
With copyright laws in place, nobody can steal or make your IP without your knowledge or say so. Only with your go ahead can anyone remake or alter your IP. For example, up until recently, Winnie the Pooh was registered under the copyright laws, however due to the laws have a time limit of 70 year having run out, it entered the public domain and was not bound by the laws. The copyright law time limits differ depending on what is covered.
For those in the UK, you can visit the government website here for reference - https://www.gov.uk/copyright/how-long-copyright-lasts
Why?
The laws and rights that cover all forms of IP are essential for the creative industry. Without them everyone would be running around taking other peoples work and altering it, there would be a lot less creativity than there is now. Which in some cases is fine, fan games are a thing that developers know exist, but its when people try to make money off of the fan games that it becomes a problem.
If someone does break the laws and steal your works, while they are covered, the offender will have a large fine cracked down upon them and depending on how badly they broke the laws, there will be jail sentences for them too.
Fines? Jail sentences? How big are the fines? And how long are the jail sentences?
How?
The following information will be sourced from the UK government website and all fines and jail time sentences will be applied to the governing bodies for the UK and its copyright laws. As a UK based developer it is important to be aware of all the laws surrounding copyright as well as fully investigate any ideas I cook up before creating. As they may have been done before. There have been numerous instances in the past of even triple-A budget companies being sued by other companies of the same or at least a similar size over a small likeness.
Fines
From looking at the government website for the UK you’ll fine that there are a broad range of fines that can be dished out to offenders. Ultimately however a fine can go up to any amount, as it is stated that fines can be an unlimited value and mostly depend on how severe the breach of the laws is.
Jail Time
Much like with fines, the jail sentencing depends on how severe the breach is. However it can be short like 6 months, and go all the way up to ten years. Jail sentences can also come in tandem with a fine relative to the severity of the breach.
For more information regarding specific areas of copyright breaches, please see the government website here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/intellectual-property-offences/intellectual-property-offences
Conclusion
Intellectual Property being covered by numerous laws and rights is very important. It covers the creator from people who would steal ideas and products and pass them off as their own.
I feel that it provides some restrictions, but it provides more creativity in the long run. As it forces people to think outside the box a bit. Instead of making something almost identical to something else but slap a different visual and a different name on it. People are forced to take aspects of some things and try them with others, subsequently creating something totally new.
All in all, Intellectual Property and the rights and laws that cover them, are essential to everything creative, whether they make money from the creativity or not.
Here is a video I found that may be of interest to you, about the subject of IPs.
Let me know in the comments below what your thoughts are on the IPs and the copyright laws that protect them. Do you think it's a good thing that ideas are lawfully protected? or should we have freedom to take and alter peoples ideas?