In one of the classes that I was facilitating, I saw people putting images from other sources in the discussion questions. Sometimes, people don't even credit sources and think citations (APA, MLA, IEEE, etc.) are not overhead and useless. It is these practices in the academic and volunteer work settings that continue in professional practices where such practices frequently attract risks that impact the project schedule or sometimes company reputation.
Little do people realize the importance of the basics of intellectual property protection. In fact, in one of the projects that I managed around 1997, a developer used a 3rd party shareware to build a spreadsheet like grid within a Windows application! The challenge was that the developer of the 3rd party shareware required a copy of his physical book to be purchased for every runtime machine! We were glad we identified the risk before releasing the application as the legal department required us to remove the shareware and rework the logic completely! It put the project behind schedule, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Right?
Considering the discussion that came up, I am documenting five important things that I consider basic information about copyrights. Now, I am not a legal representative or a final authority on this topic and so please consult your own legal counsel regarding intellectual property protection. Copyright is only one of the approaches to intellectual property protection. There are many other things like patent laws, trademarks, and service marks. The implications may vary based on jurisdictions and country. The following are basic things to keep in mind based on my exposure to project management.
1. The copyright gives exclusive rights to the authors. These may involve an innovative idea, a reference framework, detailed drawings, graphical design, music production, translated work, and the list is endless. Copyright provides the authors the rights for them to use their work and protects the author's reputed connection with others. For instance, the scholar and economist, Schumpeter came up with the word, "Creative Destruction" and is considered a seminal author on the topic. So, the two words when used together is protected (granted copyrights are also controlled by a timeframe). So, when in doubt about utilizing some work like logo, pictures, or music in your work, be careful and ask.
2. The copyright may not necessarily be registered. While it is optional for the author to register the work, it is not required. As soon as an original idea is published in a book or reputed publication, it is protected. For instance, music created by Sony, or the characters created by Disney are protected. For instance, Daniel Goleman introduced "Emotional Intelligence" and while concepts of multiple intelligence and social intelligence exist, the concept is associated with Daniel Goleman. The exclusivity sometimes may run out (such as a patent protection for a drug running out in 20 years). So, sometimes, the products (like scotch tape belonging to 3M being used more commonly) and concepts (like Google it! Xerox it) may be used without any citation but that doesn't remove the original ownership.
3. There are always exceptions and limitations. These discussions often lead to the 'fair use' condition. The idea here is to engage in a scholar-practitioner debate on questioning some work or extending ideas without completely infringing on the original author's copyright rights and provisions. Fair use often includes the purpose of use, the type of copyrighted work, the extent of original author's work taken (this is why we recommend that if any more than 3 words in succession are taken from one's work, they should be cited) and the planned use of the copyrighted work in a targeted market.
Technology has made it possible for anyone to publish a page on the Internet. So, just because something is in a public domain, it does not mean that we can forego the appreciative enquiry required to do enough research. So, don't assume anything from any place can be reproduced anywhere. Protect yourself and the authors. After all, in writing new work, you are becoming an author too!
What else do you think we should call out for basics of intellectual property? Share your thoughts.
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