Legal Issues Flashcards
What is the difference between criminal law and civil law?
Criminal law - state prosecuted, for breaches of the law - e.g. theft
Civil law - no state prosecution, legal disputes between 2 individuals or companies - state provides the courts and judge but does not take sides
What is a plaintiff?
Party applying to the court for their case to be heard
When was copyright first introduced into law?
The Statute of Anne - 1709
What is Intellectual Property?
Intangible creative work - not necessarily a physical form
Monopolistic rights to use the idea
What is required for something to be patentable?
The invention is new
It involves an inventive step
It is capable of industrial application
In the UK, what might prevent something from being patentable?
It is a discovery, theory or mathematical method
A literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (any aesthetic creation)
A scheme rule or method for performing a mental act, playing a game or a program or a computer program
The presentation of information
What concepts did the statute of Anne introduce?
Author of the work is the owner
Fixed term of protection
Libraries must have a copy
What was the Berne convention?
1886
International Copyright Act (but different here to in US)
How long does copyright last?
Creators lifetime + 70 years
How long does copyright last for computer generated works?
50 years from the creation date
What, about databases, can be copyrighted?
For how long?
Selection and arrangement of contents
15 years from creation or 15 years from publication
Anyone who copies intellectual property without permission is a ___________
pirate
What is a Mareva injunction?
Freezes defendants assets to prevent extraction to a foreign country
What is the Anton Piller case precedence?
Plaintiff seeks an ex parte to gain entry to seek evidence to incriminate pirates
don’t have to warn defendants first because they might then remove evidence
What is FAST? When was it set up?
Federation Against Software Theft
1984
What is the BSA?
What do they do?
Business Software Alliance
Promote a safe and legal digital world - voice of the commercial software industry
Educates consumers on software management and copyright protection
Work made by an employee in the course of their employement belongs to _______________
the employer
The copyright of comissioned work belongs to ______________ unless ______________
the author unless the comissioner stipulates otherwise in the contract
What 3 main powers did the coopyright, etc. and Trade Marks (Offences and Enforcement) act provide?
Increase penalty for copyright theft to 10 years
Strengthen search warrant provisions (i.e. Anton Piller orders)
Give greater powers (i.e. Mareva Injunction)
What is the Data Protection Act?
1984 & 1998
Gives individuals right to know what information is on record and challenge it if appropriate
Info must be processed fairly and lawfully, used for limited purposes, used in a way that is adequate, kept for no longer than necessary, etc.
Each organisation must have a designated Data Controller
The 1998 Data protection act also gave subjects the right to ?
Prevent processing likely to cause damage and distress
Prevent processing for the purposes of direct marketing
Compensation in the case that damage is caused by processing in violation of the principles of the act
Compared to the US, EU and UK laws on data protection are
strict
What three offences does the computer misuse act cover?
Unauthorized access - £2000 and/or 6 months prison
Unauthorized access with intent - £unlimited and/or 5 years
Unauthorized modification - £unlimited and/or 5 years
What two offences did the police and justice act 2006 review?
Impairing operation of a program or reliability of data
Preventing or hindering access to any program or data
