IP: getting legal advice + France’s loi HADOPI
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009Anyone who produces any type of monetizable work (business models, software designs, music, art, film scripts, etc.) should read the Intellectual Property guidelines provided by the Copyright Office of their respective countries as well as the Trademarks and Patents Offices. Here are some link examples:
· http://www.ipo.gov.uk/copy.htm
· http://www.wipo.int/portal/index.html.en
· http://www.patentoffice.nic.in/
Also worth keeping an eye on are these sites:
* http://www.hg.org/intell.html
At times, it may seem as if copyright and IP don’t apply on the Internet with people downloading and sharing music / video / content files so freely but in reality INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT AND IP LAWS DO APPLY.
For the individual who’s producing original work it’s imperative they’re suitably informed of their rights and how their work is being commercially exploited (sometimes without a single US$ going to them).
Today, the French government voted in the lower house for a law that seeks to protect artists’ interests on the Internet more:
* http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/technology/internet/13net.html
With Project ART we’re trying to create an innovative corporate structure, which will allow our art assets to appreciate in value within an art fund as well as via digital merchandizing mechanisms and for member-users to participate in the monetization of those digital assets, all complying with international asset management and IP laws. No other company yet provides the platform we’re aiming for so this will be fairly ground-breaking and needs the involvement of sound legal advice.
Whilst casting around for prospective law firms, I found myself on the Mishcon de Reya website:
Mishcon de Reya is the commercial law firm well-known for representing the likes of Princess Diana of Wales and Heather Mills. No, I’m not about to get a divorce; I would need to be married first for this to happen! They have an established Intellectual Property practice which is the area of law we want to get information on and were ranked #65 in the Times Top 100 UK companies in 2008 which is a good sign.
The site also caught my eye because it made me think, “We must be in the era of red-orange branding for sites. There’s Wolfram Alpha, True Knowledge and also Mishcon de Reya!” Previous years have seen these “in” colors, btw:
· silver wash (Apple, NYT)
· royal blue (most banks, Paypal, Plaxo)
· sky-blue + orange blush (Tripit, Skydeck, SearchMe, slideshare)
· apple green + aqua (Kosmix, the Conservative Party, twitter, hulu, Digg, delicious, Skype)
Hmmmn……..maybe digital success is contingent on color choice………………