Intellectual Property

Copyrights

Intellectual property such as computer software, video games, songs, and movies are granted legal protection in the form of a copyright. A copyright is a set of exclusive legal rights accorded to the expression of a particular literary, artistic, or scientific work. Any moral rights are separate and distinct from the legal rights. The purpose of copyright law is to protect and promote creative endeavors by deterring unauthorized use.

Copyrights are not granted automatically. For material to be protected, it must reflect some degree of originality. Furthermore, copyrights are not indefinite; in fact, they typically expire after a predetermined period of time (typically, 50 years).

A fair use exception excludes some uses of copyrighted material from legal protection. To determine whether the fair use exception applies, the purpose of the use is considered, along with the nature of the work. Copyrighted material is often given fair use treatment when used for educational purposes. Also considered are the proportion used, compared with the size of the whole, and the effect of the use on the potential market for the copyrighted material.

The granting of copyright protection is defended on public policy grounds. First and foremost, copyright law provides an incentive for creators to share their ideas with the public, and, at the same time, it militates against intellectual piracy. Through copyright law, copyright holders can enforce their rights through civil lawsuits.

Patents

Patents are issued with regard to systems, processes, and other inventions. New mechanical contrivances, for example, are appropriate subjects for patent protection. A patent offers the patentee exclusive rights for a defined period of time—often 20 years—in exchange for sharing information with the public about the protected systems, processes, or other inventions. The proprietary right allows the patentee to restrict others from making, using, or selling the patented invention until the term of the patent expires.

A condition for a patent to be granted is that the patentee provide a written description of the invention in sufficient detail so that another person could reproduce that invention. Once a patent is granted, the patentee's rights can be enforced through the vehicle of civil lawsuits.

Four reasons are generally offered to justify the protection of intellectual property rights: disclosure, innovation, product investment, and design development. Generally, patents are given to encourage inventors to share information about their inventions. Through disclosure to the public domain, inventors are able to build on the inventions of others. Without the protection of patents, inventors might be reluctant to share their creations with the public.

Patents are also widely considered economically beneficial. The promise of exclusive rights to an invention is believed to promote innovation of new systems, processes, and devices. This encourages companies to invest in research and development up front because of the anticipated financial returns often linked to the patenting of successful inventions.

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