Law

Are You A Creative? You Might Need A Lawyer

women-signing-marriage-papperAs a creative, you're probably more interested in your art and aspects of design and expression than you are in the legal system. But for some creatives wo are innovators in every field, such as writers, photographers, video producers, musicians, designers, artists and even architects and engineers, a knowledge of the legal aspect of their work should be of prime concern. In what cases would you as an artist, designer or innovator need legal help? And what do you need to consider about the legal help you choose? In this article we take a closer look at how creatives interact with the law, and what it might mean for you.

Who Needs IP Law in Australia?

In Australia, the Intellectual property, or IP laws are different that in other parts of the world. That's why it's important if you're an innovator or creative in Sydney that you choose intellectual property lawyers in Sydney to handle your case. Many different businesses or professionals may need to consult a specialist on IP law at some time in their career. IP law is for those who are creating, innovating or designing something new for their work or business that they plan to make money from. This could be from as complex as a work of art to as simple as a company logo, or from as aesthetic as a sculpture to as practical as a design innovation for a building's architecture.

Intellectual property law is a complicated field and specialist advice is often needed to navigate this confusingly litigious realm. Moreover, the approaches to intellectual property law are different for someone who wants to protect the rights to their work of art to those who want to protect their company name or logo. So an intellectual property lawyer can be your best asset in navigating IP law.

What A Lawyer Can Do

Intellectual property lawyers can help you identify what it is about your creation or innovation that you want to protect and how to do it. This will vary depending on your ‘product' or creation and what it is you want to do with it. In Australia, for creative works that are a form of personal expression, copyright protection is automatic and doesn't have to be registered for. A copyright limits the exclusive right to copy the material, to publish the material and to make various other uses of it. The copyright belongs to the person who created the work or the person or company who employed them to create it, so it can be transferred.

Copyright is a straightforward case, however confusion and disagreements can arise over it. This is where the assistance of an IP lawyer can help you out. In the case of protecting intellectual property in other forms, there are trade marks, design registration and patent registration, which can provide protection to the unique design or innovation under a registration of that design or innovation before it is made public. This process is really made easier with the assistance of a qualified and experienced intellectual property lawyer, to guide you through the process.

When You Need Legal Help

It is best to contact and work with an intellectual property lawyer proactively - that is before any issues arise due to a lack of protection on your unique design or innovation. One of the ways that infringement of your rights can be prevented is by registering designs, patents and trademarks where possible, and putting out a notice that these aspects are protected and shouldn't be used without the owner's permission. If an infringement of your copyright, trademark or patent has occurred, you should seek the advice of an intellectual property lawyer immediately.

Rights to intellectual property are incredibly important, as having that protection and those rights can make individuals huge sums of money. Infringement claims have also bankrupted large, profitable companies without warning. This shows the crucial need for care and attention to be paid to intellectual property law within business, keeping it in mind no matter what your business is.

By: Rouselawyers.com.au

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