Getting to know the IP Law on the Internet

Was sent to this course by my boss - my first law course! :)



It was conducted by a lawyer lecturer in the SMU school campus, I felt as if I was back to my school days attending tutorial class. The course was very interactive. A very experienced lawyer, he used illustrations of real life court cases to help us understand the topic better. Some of the examples he quoted were interesting e.g. the Armani vs A R Mani and the MacDonald vs McCurry cases. Of course, I did not waste the chance to ask him for advise regarding some work-related questions, hehe.

One very good reason why I love the course is that it's really very value for money esp. the yummy food served for morning break, lunch and afternoon break! :)

Some of the interesting takeaways from the course (Did you know?):
1. The photographer has the right to publish your photos on his website for example as he is the creator of the materials.
2. It is ok to take pictures of someone you don't know on the roads, you do not need approval for it unlike in France.
3. Giving credits doesn't help to reduce damages for copyright infringement. Use only images that are allowable on your blogs and presentation slides.
4. Registration of a trademark doesn't guarantee that you'll be protected as law is territorial, so is goodwill.
5. Not all things are copyrighted. Ideas and information are not!
6. Browsing, caching and searching is allowable by Singapore.
7. Singapore allows parallel importing, not all countries allow.
8. Hyperlinking and deep linking is allowable.
9. There's no requirement for (C), no registration is needed.
10. An infringement can itself be a copyrighted work; so too an identical, independent work

Top Ten Copyright Myths (extracted from the notes):
1. If I attribute the material to the author, there is no infringement.
2. If its on the Internet, it's free for all.
3. If I paraphrase/parody, it's OK.
4. If I take just a little, it's OK.
5. Once I own the work, I can do anything with it.
6. Any non-profit, non-commercial use is permissible.
7. If it's just for me, it's OK.
8. If I use it for teaching, it's OK.
9. I didn't do it.
10. Freeware is free for all.


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