Intellectual property (I.P. or IP) is a type of property encompassing the products of original human thought. Common examples of intellectual property include: the contents of a book, designs of an invention, computer software, company logos...
copyright law
Intellectual Property Clause
The Intellectual Property (IP) Clause, also known as the “Patent and Copyright Clause” refers to Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution, which grants Congress the enumerated power "To promote the progress of science...
joint work
Joint work is work that is made by more than one creator. A creation that is deemed a joint work holds significant legal implications because all creators can claim ownership rights over the creation. Indeed, creators of joint works hold...
know-how
Know-how refers broadly to any non-public information that individuals or companies acquire regarding how to or more easily use something in a business. The term is extremely broad and its nature depends on the knowledge being discussed....
literary works
Literary works are defined under 17 U.S.C. §101 as “works, other than audiovisual works, expressed in words, numbers, or other verbal or numerical symbols or indicia, regardless of the nature of the material objects, such as books,...
moral rights
The concept of “moral rights” refers to certain rights of authors, granted under copyright law and recognized most prevalently in civil law countries. As defined by the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, an...
Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act
Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act, added Section 512 to the Copyright Act, providing four distinct safe harbors for online service providers. If the conduct of a service...
original work of authorship
To receive copyright protection, the work must be, among other things, an original work of authorship. 17 U.S.C § 102 offers examples of works of authorship. These are:
Literary works
...orphan works
An orphan work, according to the U.S. Copyright Office, is a work that is protected by copyright but whose copyright owner cannot be readily identified or located. Orphan works interrupt the creation of new work by compromising the users’...
parody
A parody takes a piece of creative work–such as art, literature, or film–and imitates it in an exaggerated, comedic fashion. Parody often serves as a criticism or commentary on the original work, the artist who created it, or something...