IP STRATEGIES and copyright ownership

Question 1

How is copyright relevant to ur business

Answer 1

> protects investment in a lucrative idea and related intellectual efforts
builds brand awareness
acts as differentiator between you and competitors
affords instant recognizability
decide how it shall be used
infringement of copyright world can result in: brand dilution, loss of consumer loyalty and profits.

Question 2

Why should u register

Answer 2

> recommended
serves as proof of ownership
easier to resort to a notice and take down program or cease and desist order
serves as reserve in case IP owner is unable to register other IP rights
registration procedure is simple and inexpensive

Question 3

Company IP strategy concerns

Answer 3

• which works
• who holds the copyrights
• employee contract: inclusion of a copyright clause or not?
• which works should you voluntarily register?
• how to monitor copyrights are not being infringed?

Question 4

AUTHORS of the work

Answer 4

• natural person
• legal entity
  Authorship in China is governed by 2 principles:
  > authorship
  > actual creation - the creator, who has been involved into the actual I activity creation.

Question 5

Joint authorship

Answer 5

> work that is co-created by many authors. They must reach consensus on their degree of co-operation.
the work shall be enjoyed jointly by all of them and exercised upon consensus. If it cannot be reached any of them might grant a license to others
sole exploitation of a part should not preducice

Question 6

Anonymous or pseudonymous

Answer 6

> author has right of authorship: right to have the author’s name indicated on his work, the use of a pseudonymous does’t affect copyright.
the copyright rights of an unknown author, except the one of indication of authorship, shall be exercised by the holder of the original copy of the work.

Question 7

Collective works

Answer 7

> only compilations if are selected or compiled in an original manner THEN qualified as collective works
Mechanical summaries of other works cannot be a collective work
copyright of compilation is enjoyed by the compiler, BUT the exercise of copyrights all not prejudice the copyright of pre-existing works included in the compilation

Question 8

Work-made-for-hire

What is it?
Who holds the rights?

Answer 8

work created by an employee in the fulfillment of tasks assigned to him by a legal entity or un-incorporated organization.
employers should own (some) rights to work created by their employees, whether such work is protectable by copyright, patent, or some other IP right.
The legal entity has the right of PRIORITY TO EXPLOIT the work within the scope of PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES.
> after 2 years from the completion of the work, the author cannot authorize a third party to exploit the work in the same way the entity does without his consent.

Question 9

Employee VS Consultants

Answer 9

> Employee: creates the work based on the NEED to perform a job
Consultant: create the work on a voluntary or delegated basis
!!! = the copyright ownership of a consultant’s work deepens on the provision of the consultancy contract

Question 10

Service works

What is it?
Who holds the rights?
Examples?

Answer 10

Work created by an employee mainly using the company’s business resources.
> the employee: owns the right of attribution of authorship
> the company: owns allotter rights (unless employment contract says otherwise)

Ex. drawings of engineering designs, product designs, maps, computer software

!!! the employment contract should address WHO owns the copyright to works created by employees and make clear that it is assigned to the company.

Question 11

Copyright acquisition

Answer 11

You acquire the right to use the work by:

• purchase or assignment
• licence
• succession
• other contractual agreement with copyright holder

Acquiring doesn’t mean OWNING the copyright

Question 12

Fair use

Answer 12

Reasonable or personal use of copyrighted works without permission or remuneration in permitted when it falls under FAIR USE.

It means: quoting a small portion of work in a school article, self-study, research or employment, appropriate quotation, reporting of current events etc.

Question 13

Statutory licenses

Answer 13

Some works can be used freely is royalties are paid to the copyright owner ask if the moral right are respected

Question 14

Proving OWNERSHIP of copyright

Answer 14

> registration certificate
if not registered, it requires the owner to produce the original work or a true copy an relevant contracts
the work should show the author’s name and date of creation or first publication
use of blockchain technologies may prove ownership of copyright
Septermber 2018: the Supreme People’s court of China confirmed that electronic evidence should be accepted to all courts

Question 15

Proving ownership of electronic date

Answer 15

• electronic date might serve as proof in court
• done via notarization, timestamp or blockchain technology
• Chinese courts may require notarization and other methods to ensure authenticity
• timestamp and blockchain are used to ensure data immutability

Question 16

Notarization

Answer 16

Contents of web pages and social media may be used as proof if content id notarized by checking the content at the notary’s office.

Question 17

Timestamp

Answer 17

Electronic certificate issued by timestamp service institution prove that the electronic data have existed at a certain point and are verifiable. it can be recognized by Chinese courts. Some institutions that provide timestamps are recognized by Chinese courts.

Question 18

Blockchain

Answer 18

It enhances the credibility of timestamp bu using blockchain technology
It ensures data IMMUTABILITY, trust, security, transparency and traceability of the data shared.