Intellectual property refers to the creations of the mind such as, inventions, designs, literary, artistic works, symbols, images and names, which are used within commerce. The intellectual property is protected by the law such as, copyright, trademarks and patents.
You have an ad production company, and you come up with an idea for an agency. You are creating an online interactive ad experience with live action footage and illustration. You need graphic designers, a director and technical coding people to create the work for you – so you hire them to do the work.
The copyright of the work is owned by the agency or company of the commercial.
The ownership transfers once the money has been transferred to the designer and owner of the copyright.
The director might have an individual right to the work because the directors own a part of intellectual property.
An example of an incidental copyright would be if you took a photo or video and the was a piece of art work or advert in the background because you have put someone else’s work in your photo or video without their permission.
You could argue in defence to breach of copyright if you are filming the news or a live event where the has been a sudden event such as, a car crash where there is a McDonalds sign in the background and you are unable to do anything about it at the time of the actual event.
This affects me and my current units because in some of my work and units I have used some photos and videos, which I don’t have to licence or copyright to.
If I make a mistake by using someone else’s piece of work, I could be sued with a large amount of money dependent on the damage that I have done to the the person’s work.
Buildings are under copyright laws because if you take a photo or video of the building in a public place you are not breaching the copyright rules, but if you take a photo or video on a private place then you are breaching the copyright rules.
Copyright ceases to exist on sculptures when the architect or sculpture has died for over 70 years meaning that there is no copyright on the sculpture.
Yes, you can film the Gherkin without copyright permission if you film it from a public place however, you will be unable to film the Gherkin if you are in a private place.
A really nice chair in someone’s house will still have copyright restrictions because it is still owned by the designer and if the chair is used in a negative way, the designer of the chair may sue that person as it would affect the reputation. This can only apply when the work is said to be a work of artistic craftsmanship.
A really nice Eames chair in someone’s house will still have copyright restrictions because the chair is owned by the designer and is a brand, therefore it would be classed as a piece of artistic craftsmanship.
Copyright is the right, which is given to the originator for a fixed number of years to print, publish, perform, film or record literary, artistic or musical material.
Copyright exists because it protects and ensures the creator work from being used illegally without permission from the creator of the product.
Copyright does come with a product you buy like a photo because the photographer still has ownership of the photo.
5 types of copyright that could exist in a short film with motion graphics are public performing right, mechanical license, reproduction right, public performance license and synchronisation licence.
Copyright is governed by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. They set out the rules covering duration, subsistence and ownership of copyright, which can vary according to the type of work.
Copyright lasts for 70 years after the year of a known author’s death and for an unknown author, it expires 70 years from the end of the calendar year in, which the work was first made public. If the work was made by two or more authors than the copyright expires 70 years after the death of the last author.
The creator or author is generally the owner of the copyright work.
The producer specifically owns the copyright of sound recordings.
The producer and principle director specifically owns the copyright of a film.
The publisher specifically owns the copyright of a typographical arrangement.
A moral right is additional form of protection that is covered by the CPDA and aim to protect the author’s right over their creation.
The 4 types of moral rights are right of paternity, right of integrity, right to prevent false attribution and right to privacy.
Paternal rights are when the author has the rights and ownership over the piece of work, however the employer will have rights and ownership if it is produced by them.
In film production, the moral right belongs to the director of the film.
A trademark is a sign that can be capable of being represented graphically, which is capable of distinguishing goods or services. It may consist of words, letters, numbers, designs, logos, the shape/packaging of goods, colour, sounds, slogans or a combination of the factors.
Copyright, design right and moral right laws also apply to trademark items because of various companies and design of their brand such as, BP’s service station livery of green and yellow.
A register figurative that belongs to Rovio would be ‘Angry Birds Playground’. A registered word that belongs to Rovio would be ‘Angry Birds Roost’. Another trademark that belongs to Rovio is ‘No Word Mark’.
You could produce an app called Angry Cats because Rovio don’t have the license and right over the word ‘Angry’ as the application was opposed.
You couldn’t sell t-shirts with an Angry Bird on it because you don’t own the right to the Angry Bird brand however, you could if you got permission from the creator and designer of Angry Birds.
A patent protects the features and processes that makes things work. It gives you the ability to take legal action to try and stop other people from copying, manufacturing, selling and importing your inventions without your permission.
You can not patent an animal as it would be rejected.
You can’t patent a scientific or mathematical discovery, theory or method, a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, a way of performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business, the presentation of information, or some computer programmes, an animal or plant, a method of medical treatment or diagnosis, against public policy or morality.
A famous invention from London would be christmas crackers invented in 1847 by London confectioner, Tom Smith. A famous invention from Cornwall would be steam locomotives invented in 1802 by Richard Trevethick & Andrew Vivian. A famous invention from Bristol would be manufacture of chocolate invented in 1730 by Walter Churchman.
Video game designs, web designs and interactive devices might be patented.
My first reaction to the real video when I saw or heard about it being passed around on Facebook and Twitter was that it shouldn’t have been posted on these social media websites because they are used globally by all ages meaning that the youth of the world would have to see extreme violence, such as a beheading.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22368287
“While this video is shocking, our approach is designed to preserve people’s rights to describe, depict and comment on the world in which we live.”-Facebook.
I do not agree with this statement because it contains a high content of violence because someone dies in the video and Facebook & Twitter are social media websites that is used by the majority of the world by various age groups, which may lead to the viewer of that video becoming traumatised. Facebook and Twitter should not display content of this level because it is very dangerous.
“We know from evidence that [watching] such material can influence self-esteem in a very negative way. It can also cause flashbacks, nightmares and sleep disturbance. If that is prolonged it can transfer into many other negative effects in a child and adults as well such as anxiety-related disorders and panic attacks.”
This has supported my argument because it will effect the child or adult causing them to be mentally disturbed and could lead to a severe case. It shouldn’t be shown on Facebook or Twitter because it is a social media website whereas, it could be shown on the news on television as the news covers what happens around the world to raise awareness in the public however, they should only shown an image of the event and give a warning to the public before the content is shown allowing them to decide whether they want to view the content.
Regulation is the monitoring of the intervention within the media production and consumption.
Classification is restricting access to all media material because of age limits.
Censorship is the use of power by different figures who have authority allowing them to control what individuals, groups or society can or cannot see, hear or read in media products.
As a media producer, I do have a social responsibility because of the work that I create. If I create any work with a negative impact, it may also have a negative impact in social groups and individual. If my work has a negative impact, it would affect my image in the public because I would have created a piece of work that would offend the public. It may also have an impact on the company the I work for because I am part of that company, causing the company to have a bad image in the public eye.
http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/133563/Im-A-Celebrity-Rebecca-Adlingtons-Mum-Speaks-Out-Over-Olympians-Insecurity-Meltdown- – This is an example of Rebecca Adlington feeling insecure on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here because of the messages and tweets that she received over Twitter about her physical appearance resulting in her feeling insecure and unconfident. Although she is an Olympic Gold medalist, she feels that she is a failure because of this.
The hypodermic syringe model suggests that the audience passively accepts the message injected into them by the mass media.
The cultivation theory is a social theory that examines the long term effects of television and media.
Desensitisation is the emotional response that is repeatedly evoked in situations in, which the action tendency that is associated with the emotion proves irrelevant or unnecessary.
Copycat theory is publicised in the media that creates a lot of attention, which results in other people imitating or copying this in order to gain attention.
Uses and gratifications are what people do with the media to satisfy several individual and social needs the we obtain.
Reception theory is showing how we can make different polysemic meanings from the same source of media. There are three main readings, which are the dominant reading, negotiated reading and oppositional reading. Dominant reading fully shares the texts code and accepts the preferred reading. Negotiated reading partly shares the texts code and is broadly accepted. Oppositional reading is whose social situation places them in a directly oppositional relation to the dominant code.
Libel is a false statement that can damage the person’s reputation.
A recent libel case that involves Twitter was Ryan Giggs on Twitter and there were fake accounts saying that he was cheating on his wife with his brothers girlfriend.
The defence types that will be successful if someone accuses you of defamation would be if you have a fair comment, a justification is when the person has to prove that the statement made is false and absolute privilege is when someone says something about the other person in the court of law.
The social responsibility that I have as a media producer is that I must ensure that I don’t offend any people with the media products that I produce. I should be careful with the language that I use in my text so it isn’t offensive towards any people.
The Race Relations act was introduced in 1976. This act made it unlawful to discriminate on racial grounds in relation to employment, training and education, the provision of goods, facilities and services and certain other specific activities. However, in 2000 the Race Relations Act had to change because of the Stephen Lawrence case who was murdered in 1993 because of his ethnicity.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/34/notes/division/1
Positive discrimination is when a candidate on equal merit, which is chosen by the employer based on their ethnical background to portray the company as being diverse.
Domestic discrimination law has developed over more than 40 years since the first Race Relations Act in 1965. Subsequently, other personal characteristics besides race have been protected from discrimination and similar conduct, sometimes as a result of domestic initiatives and sometimes through implementing European Directives.
The characteristics, which are protected are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
Channel 4 is an Equal Opportunities employer because it understands that as a successful Broadcaster it needs to reflect modern Britain through its programmes and therefore through its workforce. The aim of our policy is to ensure that every effort is made to conduct our activities so that:
All job applicants have an equal opportunity of being recruited, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, ethnic origin, disability, age, political or religious beliefs.
All staff are treated equally regardless of sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, ethnic origin, disability, age, political or religious beliefs.
Therefore, Channel 4 will not discriminate against any of their employers or audience. By doing this they would be portrayed as a good company and offering equal opportunities to everyone.
The video gaming industry is institutionally racist and sexist because the video games mostly contain male figures who are white. A game, which contains both of these aspects is Grand Theft Auto V because the characters you can play as are mostly male who are portrayed as strong, whereas the women are portrayed as weak because the are shown as prostitutes. Also, in the story mode of the game, you are only able to play as a white male figure.
The date the obscene publications act was originally published in 1959.
It was then extended and amended in 1964 to include films and videos in 1977.
An article or media product is deemed to be obscene when taken as a whole, the work has a tendency to deprave and corrupt a significant proportion of those likely to see it.
The Obscene Publications Act has the power to obscene any form of media, which may deprave or corrupt the public.
The body that regulates and censors obscene publications is the Crown Prosecution Service.
An interactive media products that the act applies to is video games such as, Grand Theft Auto V because of the content contained in the game including, violence and language. The violence portrayed in the game of women has been controversial in the media itself. The women in the game are represented as object.
The Computer Misuse Act was originally published in 1990.
The Computer Misuse Act is for an offence to gain unauthorised access to computer material, gain unauthorised access with intent to commit a crime, unauthorised modification of computer material and making, supplying or obtaining anything, which can be used in computer misuse offences.
The punishments of an offence to gain unauthorised access to computer material can result in up to six months in prison and a hefty fine. Gaining unauthorised access with intent to commit a crime can result in up to a five year prison sentence and a hefty fine. Unauthorised modification of computer material and making can result in up to a five year prison sentence and /or a hefty fine. Supplying or obtaining anything, which can be used in computer misuse offences can result in up to a five year prison sentence and /or an unlimited fine.
3 situations that would be deemed illegal would be the Murdoch, News Of The World case, where he he was responsible for phone hacking. Another situation would be when you hack into someone’s Facebook account and change their account. Moreover, phishing is illegal because you are pretending to be another company and are taking peoples details.
A recent case where someone has been in breach of the act was in 2004, when the All-Party Internet Group published its review of the law and highlighted areas for development.
Phishing is the act of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
A computer virus is a piece of code which is capable of copying itself and typically has a detrimental effect, such as corrupting the system or destroying data.
The Data Protection Act was originally published in 1984.
It is needed because during the second half of the 20th century, businesses, organisations and the government began to use computers to store information about their customers, clients and staff in their databases. The database may contain their name, address, contact information, employment history, medical conditions, convictions and credit history. The concerns are databases can be easily accessed, searched and edited. Also, it is easier to cross reference information that is stored on two or more databases, whereas a paper based database would be harder to search.
The Data Protection Act works by setting up rules that people must follow and having an Information Commissioner who has the power to enforce the rules.
The person who enforces the Data Protection Act is the Information Commissioner.
There is some information that you have to register with the Information Controller such as, the data controller’s name and address, a description of the information to be stored, what they are going to use the information for, whether the data controller plans to pass on the information to other people or organisations, whether the data controller will transfer the information outside the UK and details of how the data controller will keep the information safe and secure.
The eight principles of the Data Protection Act are:
It must be collected and used fairly and inside the law.
It must only be held and used for the reasons given to the Information Commissioner.
It can only be used for those registered purposes and only be disclosed to those people mentioned in the register entry. You cannot give it away or sell it unless you said you would to begin with.
The information held must be adequate, relevant and not excessive when compared with the purpose stated in the register. So you must have enough detail but not too much for the job that you are doing with the data.
It must be accurate and be kept up to date. There is a duty to keep it up to date, for example to change an address when people move.
It must not be kept longer than is necessary for the registered purpose. It is alright to keep information for certain lengths of time but not indefinitely. This rule means that it would be wrong to keep information about past customers longer than a few years at most.
The information must be kept safe and secure. This includes keeping the information backed up and away from any unauthorised access. It would be wrong to leave personal data open to be viewed by just anyone.
The files may not be transferred outside of the European Economic Area (that’s the EU plus some small European countries) unless the country that the data is being sent to has a suitable data protection law. This part of theDPA has led to some countries passing similar laws to allow computer data centres to be located in their area.
Data subjects is people whose personal data is stored. Their rights are:
A Right of Subject Access
A data subject has a right to be supplied by a data controller with the personal data held about him or her. The data controller can charge for this (usually around £10 pounds).
A Right of Correction
A data subject may force a data controller to correct any mistakes in the data held about them.
A Right to Prevent Distress
A data subject may prevent the use of information if it would be likely to cause them distress.
A Right to Prevent Direct Marketing
A data subject may stop their data being used in attempts to sell them things (eg by junk mail or cold calling.)
A Right to Prevent Automatic Decisions
A data subject may specify that they do not want a data user to make “automated” decisions about them where, through points scoring, a computer decides on, for example, a loan application.
A Right of Complaint to the Information Commissioner
A data subject can ask for the use of their personal data to be reviewed by the Information Commissioner who can enforce a ruling using the DPA. The Commissioner may inspect a controller’s computers to help in the investigation.
A Right to Compensation
The data subject is entitled to use the law to get compensation for damage caused (“damages”) if personal data about them is inaccurate, lost, or disclosed.
There is some information that is deemed as sensitive personal data such as, their name, address, medical details or banking details, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, membership of a trade union, health, sex life and criminal activity.
There are some exemptions such as:
Any personal data that is held for a national security reason is not covered. So MI5 and MI6 don’t have to follow the rules. They do need to get a Government Minister to sign a certificate saying that they are exempt.
Personal data held for domestic purposes only at home, eg a list of your friends’ names, birthdays and addresses does not have to keep to the rules.
The taxman or police do not have to disclose information held or processed to prevent crime or taxation fraud. Criminals cannot see their police files. Tax or VAT investigators do not have to show people their files.
A data subject has no right to see information stored about him if it is to do with his/her health. This allows doctors to keep information from patients if they think it is in their best interests.
A school pupil has no right of access to personal files, or to exam results before publication.
A data controller can keep data for any length of time if it is being used for statistical, historical or research purposes.
Some research by journalists and academics is exempt if it is in the public interest or does not identify individuals.
Employment references written by a previous employer are exempt.
Planning information about staff in a company is exempt, as it may damage the business to disclose it.
If I create an online game and then sell it, the information and details that I need from the customer would be their name, age, address, bank details, card number and security number. The Data Protection Act would apply to me because I would have to get the go ahead from the Information Commissioner as I will be taking private information of people such as, their card number and security number for the purchase of my game.
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is the action of offence of speaking wrongly about God or sacred things.
Blasphemy is punishable by death in Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, which are all Islam countries.
It is not illegal to blaspheme in the UK because it is a secular state country, which has freedom of speech as it is a democracy. It stopped in 2008 because an amendment was passed to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act, which abolished the common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel in England and Wales.
Blasphemy Case Study http://www.firstpost.com/world/for-pakistans-dalit-christians-embracing-islam-is-an-escape-from-stigma-1338639.html?utm_source=hp-footer
Employment & Contracts
Permanent (FT & PT) & Fixed-Term
Two job roles in the IM industry that the contract is suitable for is a financial and managerial.
The hours worked by a full time are 39 hours a week, which consist of 5 days made up of 6-8 hours a day. The hours worked by a part time is a fraction of the hours. The hours worked by a fixed term are similar to full time, however their job isn’t permanent.
The work patterns of a full time is usually office. Whereas, the work patterns of a part time are usually shift. The work patterns of a fixed term is usually in the office.
The employee rights of a full time is they receive staff benefits, including pensions, sick pay, maternity/paternity leave or holiday pay. Part time receive the same benefits, but receive less because they only work a fraction of the hours. The employee rights of a fixed term are similar to those of full time because you are working for the company.
The employer rights of a full time, a part time and a fixed term is the same because the company that you are employed by own the work that you produce.
The advantage of a full time, part time and fixed term is that they are guaranteed a job because they are on a contract.
The disadvantage of a full time, part time and fixed term is they don’t get to work flexible hours.
Freelance
Two job roles in the IM industry that the contract is suitable for is a graphic designer and web designer.
The hours worked by a freelance can vary because they will be responsible for their own arrangements in terms of their pension, holiday and sick pay, as well as other allowances.
The work patterns of a freelance is flexible because they can work at the time they feel is suitable for them, but will need to complete the project in the time period that they have given to the company.
The employee rights of a freelance doesn’t apply to them because they are self employed. They would then work all year round when they have been employed to complete a project for a company.
The employer rights of a freelance isn’t applicable because they are self employed.
The advantage of a freelance is they are self employed, so they are their own boss because they can work at a time they find suitable for them.
The disadvantage of a freelance is they are’t always guaranteed a project. They would have to find other companies who need them to complete their project making it more competitive.
An example of a freelance contract is: https://www.docracy.com/0h7c0pne2h5/commissioned-graphic-design-project
5 clauses that a freelance contract should include is the pricing and rates that you will charge should be clear. You should put them down in writing the initial stages of your project. State whether you charge by hour or charge over the whole project. Make sure your client has agreed to the prices and rates that you have charged.
Payment and invoicing should contain a payment schedule. It should state how your payments are to be made and when you want them to be paid.
Single point of contact is very important because it can be a lifesaver. If you work with a client where you are receiving feedback or requesting changes from two or more people, this would be necessary if you want to limit your communication to just one person.
Kill fee is important because for any reason beyond your control, a project gets cancelled after you’ve started working on it. Freelancers without a contract may not receive money for the work they have already done until the notice of cancellation. A kill fee clause will save you from being disadvantaged party in case a project gets axed.
Copyright for copyright is different to other people because they have most of the copyright options such as, first serial rights, print rights and electronic rights.
I have contacted two companies about their contracts and jobs roles they offer. Here is the email that I sent to EA:
Here is the email that I sent to Rockstar Games:
I would need to subcontract various people with different skills I would subcontract a programmer, a cameraman, a producer, a graphic designer, a editor and a producer.
The type of contract that I would bring them in on would be a fixed-term contract because it is only for a project, which would be a temporary time.
I expect them to follow the contract terms that I agreed with them and produce the advert as they stated on the contract. I would also expect to receive frequent communication from the team.
If they don’t deliver on time or work to the brief then I wouldn’t pay them the money they requested and would fire them. I would then employ a new production team who have a good reputation to deliver their work on time and work to the brief.
thepremrishipatel 