Craft Focus - December 2020/January 2021 (Issue 82)

92 Back to basics Dids Macdonald, CEO of Anti Copying in Design (ACID), talks the top 10 basics of understanding intellectual property Admittedly, if you want to be an IP lawyer you need to know a great deal about this complex set of laws but for a designer, in whatever discipline or sector, learning the basics about the intellectual property rights that you create and putting some common sense and practical protocols in place can stand you in good stead towards design protection to achieve growth. The UK is still one of the most innovative and creative countries in the world and as we are living within one of the most challenging times, innovation is needed now more than ever. Being a designer takes a lot of skill and creativity and it is important you protect your work. It’s a competitive world out there and it’s the creative talent, skills, and training that you have which distinguishes you from other designers and their designs and creations. Hopefully as we learn to manage this terrible crisis and, in the fullness of time as we emerge, it is important to think about design protection, what to do if things go wrong and seeing IP as a positive force for growth. Intellectual property is a property right – so in the same way as you may own, lease, sell, sub-let, rent, or share your home – you don’t want squatting. IP is about ownership and permission to use your property i.e., your IP rights. ACID’S TOP TEN BASICS 1. IP rights are split into two main categories – those you must register and those that arise automatically. 2. Copyright in the UK arises automatically and in the UK is non registrable – you don’t have to do anything to own a copyright work as long as it fits the criteria which is laid down in legislation. Is it original, for example? Copyright covers a whole range of day to day business tools. Not only does it cover works of art and images, but it covers text that you create. It is not just text in books but on your website and in the information that you give out to the public, internal communications, letters, emails. It also covers photographs, software, and contracts. Copyright happens as soon as the work in question is put in to a permanent form and that includes where it is stored on a computer. Whilst copyright works cannot be registered, they can be lodged on the ACID IP Databank, giving third party evidence of their existence on the date they are received, valuable in creating an audit trail behind your work. 3. Trade marks are badges of origin and their role is to differentiate you from other people in the market space;