Essay On Intellectual Property

Introduction

Intellectual property protects things that are intangible although given value. They are given value both through the law and through the market place. To protect these ideas of mental labour copyright is used to protect these expressions, for example; books, newspapers, paintings, photographs, music, films and television programs are all the result of a creative process. Each of these products is covered by copyright, which protects the interests of the creator. Copyright in these products acknowledges both the fact that the creator has produced an article and the right for the creator to be paid for the thought and effort involved in its creation. The laws of copyright protect authors' ownership of their intellectual property.

Intellectual property is essentially a generalized name, which is given to copyright, software licenses, trademarks etc. Each of these forms of intellectual property is protected by the Circuit Layouts Act 1989. This act protects the layout-design of integrated circuits; it also protects the three-dimensional location plans, which are shown of the electric components of an integrated circuit from the plans.

Computer software and files are no different from artistic products, as their creation also involves a great deal of thought and effort. The laws of copyright cover software. As it takes a great deal of money, skill, time and effort to produce and maintain application software, copyright also protects the large monetary investment made by the software company. The main problems found with software items are the ease of copying and difficulty of detecting breaches of copyright.

License agreements specify the legal framework in which the program can be used. Licensing software gives the us...

... middle of paper ...

...to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited right to their respective writings and discoveries”

1790

The first U.S federal copyright law protects the author of any “book, map or chart” for a renewable term of 14 years.

1976

The Congress adopts the Copyright Revision Act of 1976 after 20 years of study. Big jumps in technology, including video, photograph, radio, television and photocopier, had ‘stretched’ previous copyright protections.

1990

Visual Artist Rights Act is passed by the Congress, which protects artists’ rights of attribution and integrity. Covers paintings, drawings, photographs, prints and sculptures.

Although, the progressions of copyright laws have lead to them bring very ineffective, as most other laws are. Piracy has taken over and people have stopped paying for music, movies, online books and software all together.