Copyright issues pose huge problems for management as we move more firmly into
the information era. With fewer barriers to entry and reduced costs, everyone is
getting on the publishing bandwagon, often with little or no knowledge of the
legal implications involved.
As a publishing professional who subcontracts to the corporate sector, I am regularly amazed and alarmed by the copyright infringements that I see every day, as a matter of course. What needs to be recognised is that it’s a lot simpler to get caught when you publish globally over the net than when you use a bit of art or plagiarise someone else’s writing in a company brochure
Managers need to seek legal advice and create procedures and policies to not only eliminate copyright infringements by their staff, they also need to learn how to protect their company’s assets such as databases, trademarks and intellectual property, either prior to or once they go digital. Some insurance companies are now offering policies covering Internet liability for copyright as well as other areas of infringement.
In a measure to protect business interests Copyright Acts
all over the world have been amended to encompass areas such as:
- Domain names
- Industrial and Architectural design
- Business processes
- Software
- Graphic art
- Films
- Music and other sound recordings
The Internet is fast moving from a self-regulatory institution to one governed by laws new and old.
Redistribution of creative content
Redistribution or publishing an article in a publication or site other than it was written for without permission from, or recompense to the author is a common breach of copyright on the net.
Amendments have been made to existing laws to protect
writers from these infringements. Online publishers either do not realise or
ignore the fact that they are entitled to get paid. Managers should be aware
that if they have commissioned a work for a publication, they cannot republish
this work on the Internet unless they have a contract giving them redistribution
or electronic rights to do so. Print based publishers have found themselves in
litigation for publishing the archives in electronic format without permission.
The National Writers Union sued the New York Times when they published their
archives over the Internet. The paper lost the case but has appealed the
decision to the Supreme Court. (Meyer, 2001)
Another similar breach is
unauthorised linking to information on another website in a manner that implies
that the browser had not left the original site or implies affiliation to the
site linked to. It has been deemed a breach for newspaper sites to link to
stories published on the site of another paper for instance.
With the
amendments to Australia’s copyright laws in March 2001 the forwarding of an
email became an infringement of copyright unless there is implied license from
the writer of the email. This has huge implications for management as
infringements perpetrated by employees over company networks during the course
of their working day is the liability of the employer. Even the jokes and
pictures, which clog up the emails of every corporate network, are covered by
copyright, and managers should seek legal advice to ascertain their
vulnerability to infringements of reproduction and communication. All companies
should have policies in place to set guidelines for the use and transmission of
electronic media (in whatever form).
When a company commissions any
creative work, they do not necessarily own the copyright to that work.
Photographers, web designers, artists, code cutters and writers can all maintain
copyright ownership of their artistic creations even though they have been paid
to create them. Therefore, it is very important that contracts be drawn to
clearly set out the conditions of the commission and to gain copyright for the
company so that the work can be used for purposes other than the original
commission and cannot be sold on to another company.
Software Piracy
Another area that requires close scrutiny is software piracy. It’s so
easy and very tempting to just download software and when the demo period runs
out jump on the net a get a crack. Or to install one set of legal software on
numerous machines. Managers need to be aware that this seemingly harmless
business practice is a breach of copyright and carries hefty fines. Not only
that it contributes to the rising cost of software that more circumspect users
have to pay.
Software manufacturers take piracy very seriously and
associations like the Business Software Association of Australia (the software
police) are taking action to discourage the practice and detect offenders. At
present the BSAA are targeting companies in high risk areas such as publishing
and web design with a letter campaign plus a 30 day amnesty; “to get legal”, and
they have threatened to come down hard on any violators once the period is
over.
Branding and Trademarks
Companies need to vigilantly protect
their assets whether they are solidly tangible like real estate and equipment or
more intangible like domain names, trade names and branding. Early online
practices had enterprising individuals registering the URLs of famous names in
order to sell them back to the companies at a later date at a profit. This
practice of stealing domain names came to be known as cybersquatting and
loopholes in law have been subsequently shorn up with legislation such as the
Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.
There are other ways a
companies branding may be used by competitors or individuals looking to use
goodwill or branding for their own ends. Names and trademarks can be placed in
meta tags within an unrelated website, so that it will be pulled up during a
keyword search. An example would be the “Suck it and See” vacuum company placing
the word “Hoover” in their meta tags. Now the word hoover is generically
synonymous with vacuum cleaners in Britain, but it is still a trademark and
covered by copyright. The management of “Suck it and See” may not be aware that
their very creative but not very bright web designer has used this word on their
site, but the reality is – it’s a time bomb just waiting to go off.
On
the other side of the coin, management should monitor the web for unauthorised
use of its trademark and copyright material. This can be quite easily down by
performing web searches for company names and trademarks. It is not a good
policy to ignore such infringements as it may make it more difficult to protect
the trademark at a later date if there has been regular unauthorised use in the
past. (American City Business Journals, 2001)
To further protect
themselves companies should register its names and intellectual property
wherever possible even if they have no immediate plans to go online. With the
huge growth rate in domain name registrations, it is better to be safe than
sorry.
Conclusion
It is difficult to cover all issues of copyright in
connection with the web and detail all the acts and legislations that govern
them, so instead I have tried to look at the issues that beset managers as they
try to come to grips with this wonderful new technology.
When looked at
from this angle the view is nightmarish. Management cannot monitor everything
that goes out over their networks or onto their websites. They cannot be sure
every single asset used on their website has not infringed copyright – it’s just
not possible. This becomes even more difficult for ISP providers who are often
the first in line when it comes to litigation, they are either liable as
publishers or distributor and they are easier to find and easier to collect
from.
It’s also difficult and often costly to protect the companies
assets when anyone can go online, download anything they like from the website
and use them for their own advantage. It takes diligence. But it must be done if
the company is to establish and maintain its place in new markets.
So the
answer seems to come full circle – information – the prime function of the
internet is to provide information – and to fulfil that function legally,
managers need to keep themselves and their staff informed of the legal
implications of the bad working practices they have used for years. It was
easier when we all just worked in our own little ponds putting out brochures and
promotional material locally to satisfy local markets. But as soon as you start
publishing that information on the web you’ve jumped into the BIG pond with
global exposure and global implications.
Copyright is a greatly
underestimated issue, which companies have ignored for years. To keep ignoring
it on the information superhighway is an act of total
folly!!!
Bibliography
Meyer J. B., 2001, Law and Order - Five intellectual property issues you can't ignore. (Industry Trend or Event) Ziff Davis Smart Business for the New Economy http://web3.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/689/31/37636008w3/purl=rc1_EIM_0_& A70910184dyn=13!ar_fmt?sw_aep=latrobe
Intellectual Property/Technology Law. (copyright laws), Houston Business Journal, 2001 v31 i53 p18 http://web3.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/689/31/37636008w3/purl=rc1_EIM_0_& A75101361dyn=13!ar_fmt?sw_aep=latrobe
APC Magazine, (1998) Computer Crime Boom, http://www.infosecure.com.au/news2.htm l
Loundy, D, Computer information systems law and system operator liability. Murdoch University
http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw.v1n3/loundy.txt
Binning, David (1999), The Wild Wild Web, Australian PC World Nov p24 http://web3.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/743/496/37604177w3/purl=rc1_EIM_0_A61233657&dyn=13!ar_fmt?sw_aep=latrobe
| < Prev |
|---|