Data protection

Intellectual Property Right (IPR)

Intellectual Property refers to the inventions, literary and artistic expressions, designs and
symbols, names and logos. The ownership of such concepts lies with the creator, or the holder
of the intellectual property.
Intellectual Property is legally protected through copyrights, patents, trademarks,etc.
(A) Copyright
Copyright grants legal rights to creators for their original works like writing,
photograph, audio recordings, video, sculptures, architectural works, computer
software, and other creative works like literary and artistic work. Copyrights are
automatically granted to creators and authors. Copyright law gives the copyright
holder a set of rights that they alone can avail legally. The rights include right to copy
(reproduce) a work, right to create derivative works based upon it, right to distribute
copies of the work to the public, and right to publicly display or perform the work. It
prevents others from copying, using or selling the work. For example, writer Rudyard
Kipling holds the copyright to his novel, ‘The Jungle Book’, which tells the story of
Mowgli, the jungle boy. It would be an infringement of the writer’s copyright if
someone used parts of the novel without permission. To use other’s copyrighted
material, one needs to obtain a license from them.
(B) Patent
A patent is usually granted for inventions. Unlike copyright, the inventor needs to
apply (file) for patenting the invention. When a patent is granted, the owner gets an
exclusive right to prevent others from using, selling, or distributing the protected
invention. Patent gives full control to the patentee to decide whether or how the
invention can be used by others. Thus it encourages inventors to share their scientific
or technological f indings with others. A patent protects an invention for 20 years,
after which it can be freely used. Recognition and/or financial benefit foster the right
environment, and provide motivation for more creativity and innovation
(C)Trademark
Trademark includes any visual symbol, word, name, design, slogan, label, etc., that
distinguishes the brand or commercial enterprise, from other brands or commercial
enterprises. For example, no company other than Nike can use the Nike brand to sell
shoes or clothes. It also prevents others from using a confusingly similar mark,
including words or phrases. For example, confusing brands like “Nikke” cannot be
used. However, it may be possible to apply for the Nike trademark for unrelated
goods like notebooks.
Licensing
A license is a type of contract or a permission agreement between the creator of an original
work permitting someone to use their work, generally for some price; whereas copyright is
the legal rights of the creator for the protection of original work of different types.Licensing
is the legal term used to describe the terms under which people are allowed to use the
copyrighted material.
A software license is an agreement that provides legally binding guidelines pertaining to the
authorised use of digital material. Failure to follow such guidelines is considered as an
infringement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), and is a criminal offence.
Violation of IPR
Violation of intellectual property right may happen in one of the following ways:
(A) Plagiarism
With the availability of Internet, we can instantly copy or share text, pictures and
videos. Presenting someone else’s idea or work as one’s own idea or work is called
plagiarism. If we copy some contents from Internet, but do not mention the source or
the original creator, then it is considered as an act of plagiarism. Further, if someone
derives an idea or a product from an already existing idea or product, but instead
presents it as a new idea, then also it is plagiarism. It is a serious ethical offense and
sometimes considered as an act of fraud. Even if we take contents that are open for
public use, we should cite the author or source to avoid plagiarism.
(B) Copyright Infringement
Copyright infringement is when we use other person’s work without obtaining their
permission to use or we have not paid for it, if it is being sold. Suppose we download
an image from the Internet and use it in our project. But if the owner of the copyright
of the image does not permit its free usage, then using such an image even after
giving reference of the image in our project is a violation of copyright. Just because it
is on the Internet, does not mean that it is free for use. Hence, check the copyright
status of writer’s work before using it to avoid copyright infringement.
(C) Trademark Infringement
Trademark Infringement means unauthorised use of other’s trademark on products
and services. An owner of a trademark may commence legal proceedings against
someone who infringes its registered trademark
Public Access and Open Source Software
The GNU General Public License (GPL) and the Creative Commons (CC) are two popular
categories of public licenses. CC is used for all kind of creative works like websites, music,
film, literature, etc. CC enables the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted work. It is
used when an author wants to give people the right to share, use and build upon a work that
they have created. GPL is primarily designed for providing public licence to a software. GNU
GPL is another free software license, which provides end users the freedom to run, study,
share and modify the software, besides getting regular updates.
Users or companies who distribute GPL licensed works may charge a fee for copies or give
them free of charge. This distinguishes the GPL license from freeware software licenses like
Skype, Adobe Acrobat reader, etc. that allow copying for personal use but prohibit
commercial distribution, or proprietary licenses where copying is prohibited by copyright
law.
Many of the proprietary software that we use are sold commercially and their program code
(source code) are not shared or distributed. However, there are certain software available
freely for anyone and their source code is also open for anyone to access, modify, correct and
improve. Free and open source software (FOSS) has a large community of users and
developers who are contributing continuously towards adding new features or improving the
existing features. For example, Linux kernel-based operating systems like Ubuntu and Fedora
come under FOSS. Some of the popular FOSS tools are office packages, like Libre Office,
browser like Mozilla Firefox, etc
Software piracy is the unauthorised use or distribution of software. Those who purchase a
license for a copy of the software do not have the rights to make additional copies without the
permission of the copyright owner. It amounts to copyright infringement regardless of
whether it is done for sale, for free distribution or for copier’s own use. One should avoid
software piracy. Using a pirated software not only degrades the performance of a computer
system, but also affects the software industry which in turn affects the economy of a country.