Copyright issues

LETTER FROM BALDWIN'S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY REGARDING COPYRIGHT

Due to several inquiries from prospective entrants to the 2010 Montana World of WearableArt Children’s Section worried about possible infringement of intellectual property rights, we have set out some guidelines below. These guidelines do not constitute legal advice. They simply alert you to issues to be aware of when creating your work:

  1. As with all WOW® entries, entries to the Children’s Section must be original works and must not infringe the intellectual property rights/copyright of any third party.
  2. Copyright infringement results from the following:
    1. the reproduction is a copy of an entire work or a substantial part of it, and
    2. there is some objective similarity between the reproduction and the copyright work, and
    3. the copyright work is the source from which the reproduction is derived.
  3. There is no formula for what constitutes a ‘substantial part’ of a work or what is ‘objectively similar’. Each case is different. However, you must be aware of the above three elements to copyright infringement when taking inspiration from another person’s work.
  4. Copyright exists in many different types of works, such as literary, musical, dramatic and artistic works. The copyright in these works may have different durations depending on the type of work and the circumstances surrounding the work.
  5. Copyright has a limited lifespan. Generally, copyright in a literary work (such as a book) and copyright in an artistic work (such as a print, painting or drawing) will expire 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies.  
  6. However, where an artistic work has been industrially applied, the copyright in that work may only last 16 or 25 years depending on the exact nature of the work. This does not apply for a literary work.
  7. This means that when using a book, there may be different copyright periods relating to the copy (words) of the book and the illustrations in the book.
  8. The meaning of “industrial application” of an artistic work can vary but for your purposes it would generally mean where more than 50 copies in 3 dimensions are made of the artistic work, for the purposes of sale or hire, or where the work is copied as a plate that has been used to produce more than 50 copies of an object in 3 dimensions for the purpose of sale or hire. For example, a costume created by a designer in which all or part of the costume is copied from a book which was published 40 years ago and that book had been printed 50 times or more, is unlikely to infringe copyright.
  9. It is important to be aware that although copyright in an original work may have expired, another version of the original work may have since been created. Copyright in this new work will run from the year of the new creation rather than the year of the original creation.
  10. When deciding on a name for your creation, it is important to consider whether it will infringe anyone’s trade mark rights. For example, the trade mark WINNIE THE POOH is a registered trade mark of Disney Enterprises, Inc. in relation to a wide range of goods including clothing, headgear and footwear. Therefore, any use of this trade mark in relation to these goods may constitute trade mark infringement.
  11. The moral rights of the author of a literary work or an artistic work will last at least as long as the copyright in the work. You need to attribute the work correctly to the author of the work, and ensure that you do not treat the author’s work in a derogatory way.

Entrants are responsible for ensuring that their entry complies with these guidelines and that their entry does not infringe a third party’s intellectual property rights. WOW® reserves the right to disqualify any entry which does not, in WOW®’s opinion, conform to these guidelines, or which infringes a third party’s intellectual property.

Written by Baldwins Intellectual Property a Corporate Partner of the Montana WOW® Awards Show 


A LETTER FROM SUZIE MONCRIEFF, WOW'S FOUNDER

Hi everyone,

Following on from the letter from Baldwins regarding copyright etc, I’d like to reiterate to designers that the Montana WOW® Awards Show is all about creativity, originality and stretching creative boundaries.  Therefore whilst it is okay to be inspired by something or someone, your design, needs to be from your own perspective and creativity.    

When we decide what the sections and themes are going to be each year, we sometimes provide you with some visual prompts to illustrate what we are looking for.  But they should be taken as just that – prompts.  Think about these and then let your imagination run wild.   

If you have any queries regarding anything to do with your design please don’t hesitate to make contact with Heather Palmer, our Competition Director.

Kind regards,

Suzie Moncrieff - Founder