It’s been a busy month for actor, writer and director Michaela Coel. In September, she won her first Emmy for writing the limited series I May Destroy You, and released her first book, Misfits: A Personal Manifesto.
Both the series and the book are related to the way this talented UK creative views the issue of intellectual property. When she started to pitch the idea for I May Destroy Youin 2
Have you ever pitched an idea at work, only to see your boss present it later as his own idea?
While that must sting, imagine how much worse you would feel if your idea was pitched during a job interview, and you didn’t even get the job, much less the credit for the idea and any share of the financial benefit it generated.
That’s what one job applicant says happened to her. In August 2016,
A new song; a new character; a new algorithm — in the 21st century, any of these, and many more kinds of new ideas, could make their creator’s name and fortune. That’s the way the creative economy works.
As author John Howkins put it in his 2001 book The Creative Economy: How People Make Money from Ideas, the creative economy refers to the economic potential of activities that centre on creati
From design agencies to training providers, entrepreneurs and small businesses across various industries often throw their hat in the ring when organisations send out Invitations To Quote (ITQ) for upcoming projects.
These documents set out the requirements for a project, and enables a potential vendor to assess how much to charge for its goods and/or services. But beyond noting the nature and
Earlier this month, soul icon Anita Baker sent out a tweet that radiated joy: “All My Children Are Coming Home.” The accompanying photo showed five of her albums, all released by Elektra Records in the 1980s and 1990s. The news she was announcing with this tweet was momentous — she was finally regaining ownership of her master recordings.
Another icon, pop star Taylor Swift, responded to t
No matter what service or product a company is selling, chances are they are using some kind of font in their marketing materials. While many people assume that fonts can be used freely, font programmes and their underlying typefaces are actually intellectual property protected by copyright.
In 2009, Font Bureau, an American type foundry, sued NBC Universal for failing to secure the rights to a
As the saying goes, time is money. And when it comes to IP matters, time is an important factor for creators. A recent change to IP laws in Uzbekistan serves as a useful example of how time plays a crucial role when it comes to protecting one’s innovations.
Uzbekistan has expanded the general term of copyright protection from 50 years to 70 years, following the death of the author. This change
This month sees the release of yet another Marvel superhero movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. However, a lot of attention is still on the previous entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow, due to an ongoing lawsuit.
Due to the uncertainties of relying solely on the traditional theatrical release model during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, that movie was released si
When Roadrunner, a documentary about the late travel show host Anthony Bourdain was released recently, 45 seconds of narration in the film soon got everyone talking.
Director Morgan Neville revealed that three lines in the documentary that sounded like they were spoken by Bourdain were actually generated by AI. These lines had been written by Bourdain, but he had never said them out loud. “
Today’s fashion plagiarist is spoilt for choice. The Internet is flooded with high-resolution images of the latest designs, and catwalk shows are live-streamed on social media.
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on brands and retailers to cut costs in an increasingly tough market, and design departments are shrinking. As a result, the perennial problem of copying is becoming even more prolific.
Are influencers at risk if the products that they create sponsored posts for infringe upon trademarks? A recent case suggests that this may become an increasing possibility.
Molly Sims, a model and influencer, has become entangled in a trademark infringement lawsuit, with a court refusing to dismiss her because she allegedly caused consumer confusion about an eyebrow product.
What happened
Blockchain (a distributed ledger comprising cryptographically linked data, enforced by a disparate network of computers) and cryptocurrencies (virtual currencies powered by blockchain technology) entered the mainstream consciousness a few years ago. More recently, these innovations have entered popular culture via gaming. In some games, players can now purchase cryptocurrencies for use as an in-ga
