Amidst the vineyards in Stellenbosch there is an oracle. This oracle, the Vine Oracle, holds forth on matters pertaining to intellectual property (IP). As may be expected, the Oracle communicates with those wishing to consult its wisdom through the grapevine. The rustling of the vine leaves in the summer breezes and the birds and the bees […]
Lucasfilm Limited v Ainsworth [2011] UKSC 39. The facts: Andrew Ainsworth was a prop-designer engaged to produce the iconic Imperial Stormtrooper costumes for the first Star Wars movie in 1977. More recently in 2004, Mr Ainsworth (domiciled in the UK) started making replicas of the Stormtrooper helmet (using his original tools) which he proceeded to sell worldwide […]
“Ex Africa semper aliquid novi”, which can be freely translated from Latin to mean “there is always something new coming out of Africa”, said Pliny, the ancient Roman writer and scholar. Presumably then, as is the case now, the concept of “new” included an expression of sarcasm and deprecation as in “absurd, nonsensical and ridiculous”. […]
Authors and authors’ groups from Australia, Canada, Britain and the US have filed a copyright infringement suit against the HathiTrust (a consortium of universities) and five US universities – the Universities of Michigan, California and Wisconsin, Cornell University and Indiana University. According to one of the plaintiffs – The Authors Guild – the universities obtained unauthorized scans […]
This week the EU extended copyright protection for performers and record producers from 50 to 70 years. The EU Council’s justification for the extension – performers often start their careers young, and the current 50-year term means that many are not protected for their entire lifetimes and may be cut off from sources of income at the stage they need it the most.
Not everybody is jumping for joy. Intellectual Property Watch reports that eight EU member states (notably Belgium, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden) voted against the extension. The Open Rights Group (ORG) do not mince words and label the extension “a cultural disaster”.
Neither the rain nor cold could dampen the spirit at the International Intellectual Property Law Conference recently hosted by Stellenbosch University (SU) to inaugurate the Anton Mostert Chair of Intellectual Property established at SU under the patronage of Dr Johann Rupert.
The Conference was addressed by an impressive panel of local and international intellectual property (IP) experts on interesting topics ranging from Confucius philosophy to the protection of handbags, but the message was loud and clear – IP faces many challenges and the time for change is now. Professor Owen Dean, the first incumbent of the Chair, is an outspoken proponent of the view held by many experts, that South African IP law has not kept pace with modern developments and essential amendments are urgently needed. Professor Dean’s vision for the Chair is to become a custodian of IP law and to actively assist in restoring IP law to its former glory.
Innovation, creativity, novelty, ingenuity – the foundations of Intellectual Property (IP) Law is, simply put, the protection of the inventive spark as expressed by its maker. This sweat-of-the-brow approach to IP law is often cited as the rationale for the continued expansion of traditional IP protection measures to new forms of expression.
The practice of granting a monopoly over the production and distribution of an invention, or its fundamental idea, is the exclusive field of the law of patents. Across the scope of intellectual property law, patent protection is the only form that approaches the protection of pure ideas or concepts while other forms of IP law protect the expression of ideas in various forms.
Exclusivity is the calling card of intellectual property law and the primary driver for the continued expansion of IP protection to new types of work, modern technologies and revolutionary expressions of human intellectual activity. On the other hand, Internet-based technology is driven by the central concepts of free access, peer exchange and rapid reproduction.
Originally drafted to allow the English Crown to profit from the reproduction of books, modern copyright law has become a complex, dynamic, liberal and indispensible mechanism for the protection and commercial exploitation of all types of personal expression.
