Copyright protects creative work (Literary, Dramatic, Artistic, Sound, and Film) by giving the creator the the exclusive right to use their own work. Copyright prevents anyone copying, broadcasting, renting, and adapting creative work.
Copyright work often is accompanied by a © but it is not required.
Copyright is automatic, you don’t need to apply for it. It usually lasts for seventy years after the author / creator has died. Once the copyright has expired the work goes into the public domain, this means anyone can use it freely.
Creative work protected by copyright law can be used for the following purposes:
These exceptions are called ‘fair dealings’ or ‘fair use’. These do not always all full use of a copyright work, for example: A reviewer cannot include a digital version of a whole film as a part of their review.
If you need to use someone else's creative work for any other purpose, you must ask their permission and a obtain license to use it.
Copyright law is a civil law, therefore those in breach do not end up in prison. Initially those in breach may be sent a cease and desist notice by the copyright owner, and if they do not comply they may be taken to court so that the copyright owner can claim damages.
Some copyright owners want to allow their work to be used by others. Many do this with the use of a Creative Commons licence.
A Creative Commons license allows people to use someone elses copyright work under certain conditions.
These conditions can include
If the Creative Commons licence is breached then the normal consequences of copyright law applies. Under a Creative Commons licence the owner would not need to be contacted unless their work was going to be used in a way not described by the conditions of the licence.
Patents cover inventions and specially how an invention works.
To apply for a patent, it must be: new, something that can be used or made, and innovative.
Patents are difficult to get as lawyers must ensure that a patent is not derivative or is something that already exists - this can take up to five years. When applying for a patent how the invention work must be documented and publicly available for anyone to view. Even though publicly viewable, no one other than the patent owner can legally use the invention unless it is licenced or sold.
Once a patent expires anyone may use the invention and make money from it. Patents last for a maxium of 20 years, and the owner may need to renew the patent every 5 years to continue to exclusivly use / sell their invention.
Some people argue that patents stifle innovation by preventing others using new inventions.
Design rights protect the design / shape of a product and is used to protect products from being counterfeited.
Design right can be automatic and give some protection for 10-15 years, but registering a design can provide longer protection up to 25 years, but will incur a fee.
Trademarks protect brands and brand identities.
A trademark, for example, would protect a company logo and prevent another company using a very similar logo which may confuse customers.
Trademarks last upto 10 years, and may be reapplied for when they expire. Registering a Trademark costs at least £170.
When you pay or download for software you don’t own it, you are simply given the right to use it for specific purposes.
All software comes with a licence. A licence is a document which describes what you are allowed to do with it.
The two licences are: Proprietary and Open Source.
A proprietary licence is used for software you pay for. Proprietary licences prevent users from copying and freely distributing the software. It may limit how many people who can use it, or how long it may be used for.
There are benefits of a proprietary licence, these can be divided between the interests of the business which sells the software and the customers of the software.
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Software can be released under an Open Source licence. The Open Source licence is used to give it’s users more freedom including the ability to freely distribute, modify, and view the source code that makes up the software.
Open Source is Free as in Freedom – not always as in Free (money).
OpenSSL is an open source package installed on billions of devices and manages secure communication over networks.
It is managed by two people with limited funding.
It is a vital part of software and secure connections on the internet could not occur without it.
There are benefits of using an Open Source licence, these can be divided between the interests of the business which sells the software and the customers of the software.
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Companies and organisations hold your personal data and its incredibly valuable - not just to the companies, but to data brokers, and hackers.
To protect your data and ensure these companies treat it with respect, all companies must comply with the Data Protection Act (DPA).
The Data Protection Act was updated in 2018 to bring it in line with technological advances and the ways companies have been using data.
When collecting data on users and customers, organisations must have the consent to hold and use their data.
Consent must be:
The Data Protection Act sets out seven key principles:
Organisations must have a data controller - a person who is responsible for the organisations compliance with the Data Protection Act.
Organisations that are in breach may face large fines.
In response to crimes been committed on computers the Computer Misuse Act was created
Introduced to prevent unauthorised access to computer systems.
Three main offences:
Committing any of the offences can lead to fines and or time in prison.