Professional Studies in Art and Design

Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is a group of legal rights that provide protection to creations of
mind (ideas or thoughts).
Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a
variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, artistic works, discoveries and
invention, words, phrases, symbols, and designs.
Common types of intellectual property rights include copyright, trademarks,
patents.
Types of Intellectual Property
Copyright
Copyright assures the authors the right to their original expression, but
encourages others to build freely upon the ideas, information conveyed by a
work.
It gives the right to make adaptations of the original work.
For example, if someone has written a story and copyrighted it then others have
the right to make a movie or write a book or make a cartoon or a video game
based on your idea.
Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture and
films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps and technical
drawings.
Copyright does not protect facts, systems, and methods of operation or ideas
unless it is expressed in some form.
Copyright in India is governed by the Indian Copyright Act of 1957.
CASE STUDY
The famous movie 3 Idiots was in the controversy due to copyright issues.
Issue:
In 2004, Chetan Bhagat wrote the book Five point someone, which sold in
millions in India. He gave the book to director Rajkumar Hirani to read, who in his
own words wanted to make a film on it, after rewriting it in screenplay format.
Subsequently in 2009 he came out with the movie 3 Idiots, whose screenplay he
had written with another writer. This was not the first time Chetan Bhagats work had
been made into a movie adaptation. Another movie called Hello was based on his
book One night @ call centre in which he had been given an opening credit in a big
font.
So when 3 Idiots was released with Chetan Bhagats name in the closing
credits rather than the opening credits, and that too allegedly in smaller fonts than
contracted, despite the movie lifting major portions from his book including
substantial dialogues rather than a mere inspiration as claimed by the director, he
asserted his copyrights and their violation.
The author alleged that he had been told that the movie comprised only 2-5%
of his book, while, according to the general opinion, the movie comprised nearly 70%
of the books subject matter. Those who have read the book first tend to believe that
the film is a copy.
The author expected an opening credit in the movie rather than a closing one,
claiming that it was not merely about the credits being there, but rather the placement
and the prominence. The directors defence was that he had officially bought the
rights for the film and had fully complied with the terms of the contract
Truce:
Finally, the issue was resolved as the author called truce through his blog
post.

Patents
A patent is an exclusive right granted by state to an inventor for a limited period
of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention.
It protects concepts, methods of manufacture, and the way a product works.
The design patent relies primarily upon the drawings to communicate what is
protected. The design patent is directed toward an ornamental design of an
article of commerce.
To qualify for a design patent, the subject must be new in the sense that no
single, identical design exists the prior art, it must be original to the inventor
seeking protection.
The design patent gives the owner the right to prevent others from making, using,
or selling a product that so resembles the patented product that an "ordinary
observer" might purchase the infringing article, thinking it was the patented
product.
Case Study:
In 1915, Coca-Cola Company, came up
with a plan to launch a national
competition in which bottle manufactures
across the country would be asked to
design a distinctive bottle a bottle
which a person could recognize even if
they felt it in the dark, and so shaped
that, even if broken, a person could tell at
a glance what it was.
The bottle manufacturer that won this
competition was the Root Glass
Company of Terre Haute, Indiana.
Inspired by a picture of a cocoa pod
which was found in an encyclopedia, Earl
R. Dean made a pencil sketch of the pod.
From this sketch, Dean designed the
contour bottle prototype. The prototype never made it to production since its
middle diameter was larger than its base. Then Dean equalized the middle and
bottom diameters and the contour coca-cola bottle was born.
The bottles design was patented, but with plant superintendent, Alexander
Samuelson listed as the inventor/designer, rather than Earl R. Dean, the bottle
molding room supervisor who actually designed it.
Trademarks
A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one
enterprise from those of other enterprises.
Trademarks date back to ancient times when craftsmen used to put their
signature or mark on their products.
EXAMPLE:
The McDonalds golden arch is a classic example of a
symbol trademark. Golden arches align interstate
highways to alert customers when there is a McDonalds
located at next exit. There is no mention of the name
McDonalds on these golden arches. McDonalds does not
need to. Their customers know that a golden arch represents McDonalds. Their
golden arch symbol clearly differentiates them from other fast food restaurants.

Consumer Protection Act
Consumer protection is a group of laws designed to ensure the rights of consumers
as well as the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace.
The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair
practices from gaining an advantage over competitors; they may also provide
additional protection for the weak and those unable to take care of themselves.
Consumer means any person who buys any goods for which he has paid or
promised or partly paid or hires any service.
Consumer needs protection against:
Restrictive trade practice
Defects
Deficiencies
Unfair trade practice
Rights of consumer
o Right to safety
o Right to be informed
o Right to choose
o Right to be heard
o Right to consumer education
Case Study:
Complaint filed against a Hospital
If a patient dies in the hospital due to wrong medication and the relatives of the
patient files a complaint against the hospital and it is proved that the complaint is
valid then the hospital will need to give a compensation which the court tells them to.

Disability Discrimination Act
The DDA makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled people in:
Recruitment, and employment
Access to goods, facilities and services
The management, buying or renting of land or property
Under DDA it also makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled people for
education and related services.
Case Study:
A worker is given night shifts to do. She has kidney failure and has nightly dialysis.
Making her do night shifts would mean she won't be able to have her dialysis. This
results to DDA.

Equal Opportunity
Equal opportunity means absence of discrimination, as in the workplace, based on
race, colour, age, gender, national origin, religion, or mental or physical disability.
Our Equal Opportunity policy commits us to ensure that there is no unjustified
discrimination in the recruitment, retention, training and development of staff on the
basis of age, disability, gender including transgender, HIV/AIDS status, marital status
including civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity, political opinion, race/ethnicity,
religion and belief, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, spent convictions,
trade union activity or membership, work pattern and on the basis of having or not
having dependants or any other irrelevant grounds.
EXAMPLES OF NOT OBEYING THE LAW:
o Preferring a certain race against another, even with same qualifications and
skill level.

REGULATIONS

1. Health and Safety at Work Act 1947
In a working environment there is a wide range of possible hazards, so it is the
responsibility of the employer and the employees to ensure that any hazards are
reported and acted upon in order to minimize risks of accidents.
The Act sets out the rights and obligations of both employers and employees and
provides for substantial fines and penalties for breaches of the health and safety
legislation.
Case Study:
Nestls factory has won a national health and safety awards for reducing the
frequency of accidents involving its workers by over a third.
By spotting hazards before machinery and processes are designed, engineered,
and installed in the factory the company makes workspace safer for the
employees.
2. Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations
COSHH is the law that requires employers to control substances that are hazardous to
health. One can prevent or reduce workers exposure to hazardous substances by:
finding out what the health hazards are
deciding how to prevent harm to health
providing control measures to reduce harm to health
making sure they are used
keeping all control measures in good working order
providing information, instruction and training for employees and others
providing monitoring and health surveillance in appropriate cases
planning for emergencies
Case Study:
An employee developed occupational asthma after working for a large multi-
national company.
The company did not have adequate control measures in place and failed to
install fume extraction equipment to remove rosin based fumes from the
workroom air or from the breathing zones of its solderers. Employees, including
the asthma sufferer were not placed under a health surveillance scheme at any
time.
As a result of the company paid the compensation to the suffered employees.

INSURANCE
1. Protection Product Liability
When a person is injured by defective product that is dangerous or unsafe,
the injured person have a claim or cause of action against the person/company that
designed, manufactured, sold, distributed or furnished the product.
Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors,
suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held
responsible for the injuries those products cause.

Types of liability
Manufacturing defect
Manufacturing defects are those that occur in manufacturing process and
usually involve poor quality materials.
Design defect
Design defect occurs where the product design is inherently dangerous or
useless no matter how carefully manufactured. This may be demonstrated
either by showing that the product fails to satisfies ordinary consumer
expectations as to what constitutes a safe product.
Marketing defect
Failure-to-warn defects arise in products that carry inherent non obvious
dangers which could be mitigated through adequate warnings to the user and
these dangers are present regardless of how well the product is
manufactured and designed for its intended purpose.
Examples of a design defect include:
a particular model of car that has a tendency to flip over while turning a corner
a type of sunglasses that fail to protect the eyes from ultraviolet rays, or
Baby products such as cribs, kangaroo bags should be designed properly so that it
should not cause harm to the baby.


2. Professional Indemnity
Professional Indemnity Insurance is a type of insurance designed to protect the
business against any claims arising from bad or negligent advice or services.
Professional Indemnity Insurance aims to provide protection for:
Settlements, compensation/or damages awarded against the insured; or
Legal costs and other expenses associated with defending a claim.

Case Study:
The Insured was employed to design and manufacture a number of tanks, which
later leaked and failed. While there was no damage to the tank, the Insured
carried out an inspection where it noted that there were signs of stress (which is
caused by excess pressure). In addition the 'base' (concrete) may not have been
level, which caused more pressure on one side. This matter was fully defended
without any claim payment being made.
3. Public Liability
The main objective of the Public Liability Insurance Act 1991 is to provide for
damages to victims of an accident which occurred due to negligence of the owner or
occupier. Claims are usually successful when it can be shown that the
owner/occupier was responsible for an injury, therefore they breached their duty of
care.

Case Study:
An office worker by the name of Sandra visited her local shopping centre in her
lunch break to do some grocery shopping. Sandra slipped on a pool of orange
juice in one of the isles and suffered a serious injury to her back. After surgery
and rehabilitation, she was able to return to work but only on a part time basis.
Sandra got legal help following the incident and the matter was resolved with a
compensation payment from the insurer.

4. Employers Liability
Employers liability insurance is a legal requirement for any business which has one
or more employees. Incorporating it into a single business policy along with your
public liability and any additional covers can reduce the overall cost and make your
business insurance easier to manage.
If you have employees, there is a chance that they may become injured at work or
become ill as a result of working for you. If this happens, they might be entitled to
claim compensation. Employers' liability insurance covers this cost.
It also covers claims for employee illnesses that have been contracted as a result of
working for you, even if they manifest after the person has left your employment. For
this reason, you must keep on file all documentation related to your employers
liability insurance, even if it has expired.

EXAMPLE:
A self-employed contractor was working exclusively for the insured business. While
at work he jammed his hand in between a lintel and a metal bar, causing a serious
laceration.
The insurer paid out damages to the contractor under the employers' liability cover.