What is Intellectual Property?

“Creativity and inventiveness are vital. They spur economic growth, create new jobs and industries, and enhance the quality and enjoyment of life.” – The WIPO

Music, science, art, literature, technology, advertising, entertainment: this course examines Intellectual Property (IP) and the legal and social means that have developed over time to encourage and control it. The objective is to introduce the basics of intellectual property, examine how it operates, and enable students who have little or no hands-on experience to deal intelligently with the conflicting legal, social and political forces that will shape its future. No prior knowledge of IP law is required.

Traditionally, intellectual property is defined as the creative works – books, music, art, inventions and discoveries, software, brand names, and the like -- that are protected by copyright, trademarks, and patents. Each of those legal structures is presented briefly, together with related areas such as licensing. The course also focuses also on how the concepts of intellectual property are being shaped by the digital environment and examines the political and legal issues created by the growing globalization of intellectual property.

Objectives

1. Define Intellectual Property and the categories that comprise it.

In this lesson, we will learn the basic concepts related to intellectual property in order to fulfill the objectives of the course. We will begin by defining what intellectual property is, and we will conclude by mentioning its categories.
 

What is intellectual property?

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. “IP covers a vast range of activities and plays an important role in both cultural and economic life. This importance is recognized by various laws which protect intellectual property rights.” (WIPO) 
 

Source: https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/what-is-intellectual-property  

Intellectual Property is divided into two categories:

Industrial property includes:
-    patents for inventions,
-    trademarks,
-    industrial designs and
-    geographical indications.

Copyright covers:
-    literary works (such as novels, poems, and plays),
-    films,
-    music,
-    artistic works (e.g., drawings, paintings, photographs, and sculptures) and architectural design.
-    Rights related to copyright include those of:
a)    performing artists in their performances,
b)    producers of phonograms in their recordings, and
c)    broadcasters in their radio and television programs.

Conclusions

Intellectual Property is of vital importance especially for entrepreneurs who start with a new product and who are starting a new company, as it will help them protect their most important asset from plagiarism and other legal situations that could be very expensive.

It is necessary to understand the concept of intellectual property and its classification in order to gain understanding regarding multimedia in the O- City platform.
 

Bibliography

What is Intellectual Property?

https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/what-is-intellectual-property
 

Here you have the content of this lesson in pdf: