Copyright and IP protection in a digital world

Over the last decade the amount of content readily available online has exploded. Recent estimates undertaken by major search engines, show that the internet has expanded by a factor of 1,000 with more than 13.86 billion pages indexed. Social media has undoubtedly powered this change, as people share and reshare content. Moving at an explosive pace, the digital space thrives on engaging content to win users and power their websites. With a surplus of content coverage, sharing and re-sharing defines our social experience, however, with such a rapid and informal turnover of content, how can digital creators, brands and business protect their product, and safeguard their Intellectual Property, in a world some users don’t play by the rules…

Communicating brand message to consumers is easier than ever before. Thanks to the global, open and versatile nature of the internet, engaging with users is instantaneous and easy. However, due to the unregulated aspect of the internet, the potential for IP theft or trademark abuse is rife as brand messaging gets distorted through a haze of copycat companies and click bait. This is particularly prevalent for design, written work, photographs or creative attributes, and most frequently occurs on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. To safeguard your Intellectual Property, there are three types of protections at your disposal:

1. Trademarks—logos, company names, symbols and phrases
2. Patents—used to protect processes in manufacturing or design
3. Copyrights—to protect original works

While some mistakenly view the internet as an informal platform where intellectual property regulations do not apply, and proper copyright practices diminish, this is not the case. In a paper released by the Interlectual Property Office (IPO) it was reported that:

“Under UK law copyright material sent over the internet or stored on web servers will usually be protected in the same way as material recorded on other media. So, if you want to put copyright material on the internet or distribute or download copyright material that others have put on the internet, you will need to make sure that you have permission from the people who own the rights in the material. The position in other countries may be different. If you put material on the internet or download it in the UK, the above rules apply, even if the material is to be downloaded or was put on the internet in another country.”

However, if your material was surfaced and published in another country, without your permission, legal action will often need to be enacted in the country where the usage took place. As a result, it makes it very difficult to enforce copyright on websites.

While the international nature of the internet complicates the issue of copyright, if you access content within the UK, UK copyright laws will apply to international content. The real difficulty in cases of Intellectual Property protection is proving provenance: that you are the original poster and owner of the content. This is often for the courts to decide, however there are several legal options you can explore which does not involve the courts. As suggested by the IPO, victims of copyright infringement can pursue the following:

1. Injunctions
2. Damage orders
3. Orders to hand over or delete the content/goods used without your permission

Most useful however, are preventative measures that can prevent the misuse of your content from the outset. By utilising the international copyright mark, followed by your name and year of creation, means that you will be afforded automatic copyright protections in certain foreign countries- which may be the best preventative measure at your disposal.

To find out more about IP protection and copyright online, visit Lexis®PSL for insight and access to our digital toolkits.

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