Intellectual Property Act

[David Buskell]

This one seems to have passed us by on this Forum.

The Act received Royal Assent  in May and came into force on 1st October. Congratulations to all at ACID for their hard work. Great quote from Nick Kounoupias, the ACID Chief Legal Exec in "Craft & Design" this month- nice one, Nick!

The Act has implications for designers who wish to protect their work and I guess this might include some woodturners. Registered designs are covered but unregistered do not appear to be.

A synopsis of the Act is on the Government website but I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this over the coming months.

If anyone needs more info check out the ACID site www.acid.uk.com or call Nick Kounoupias at D M H Stallard's office in Crawley.

[bodrighywood]

Must investigate this as I am getting a bit fed up with one or two people who, when I post something on Face Book seem miraculously to come up with an almost identical copy of it within a day or two. I have no problem with people taking things I do and copying if there is some sort of credit given but when I make something that I haven't seen before and suddenly someone else is making it and displaying it in almost identical fashion I find it annoying to say the least. The latest is table centres. I have been making them with candles and t lights for years. Always with proper inserts and with sweets, potpourri, nuts etc in and now I see someone else doing the exact same thing but with no protective inserts. All of us emulate other turners but there is a point where it becomes blatant plagiarism in my mind.

Pete

[David Buskell]

Pete,
If you do decide to call Nick, let him know I gave you his name - he's an old work colleague and friend of mine.
David

PS he still won;t charge any less fees!!!

[TWiG]

I know that Tobias  Kaye is very protective of his sounding bowls design , but they are unique and original and proven to be developed by him but I would imagine it involves effort and expense doing this and I know of no one else who has done such a thing .  Look how many people have copied for eg Bert Marsh bowls etc and things from Woodturning magazine etc Not sure how this would work in practice

[Bryan Milham]

I've not yet read the ACID site, but do have to deal with IP in my job.

I agree that some things are signature pieces to craftsman and artists (not just woodturners) but anything taught at a paid for day at a (in our case) woodturners workshop, shown how-to in a magazine or demonstrated at a club night should be open source and free to copy or develop in our own way.

[bodrighywood]

I agree that when we demonstrate, or teach something we should accept that it is open source. What gets under my skin is when I post something on Face Book for example and within a week someone is posting the exact same thing, down to the way it is displayed and presented but in a way that is dangerous, badly made etc and as though it was all their own idea. Am I being petty? Maybe but if I wanted to copy someone elses idea I would contact and ask first. I, likes many pros am continually trying to come up with fresh ideas and to have someone so blatantly copying is a bit galling. Can I say I have never come across this happening on this or any of the other forums I use.


Pete

[Rlewisrlou666]

This is a great Idea for those of you who make unique art pieces but it might cause issues down the line.

How do you copywrite a wooden bowl/vase/platter/plate/box?

Is it a first come first serve basis? First one to copywrite an oak bowl means no-one else can make and sell oak bowls over fear of being sued?

Or will it end with people copywriting techniques stopping the growth because everyone is too scared to try new things over fear of being sued by a professional turner that uses the technique whether they knew about them or not?

Like I said it is a great idea for unique items and it stops Big retailers mass producing something they've found online, It will help and hinder but it is necessary.

Ryan

[GBF]

I agree that when we demonstrate, or teach something we should accept that it is open source. What gets under my skin is when I post something on Face Book for example and within a week someone is posting the exact same thing, down to the way it is displayed and presented but in a way that is dangerous, badly made etc and as though it was all their own idea. Am I being petty? Maybe but if I wanted to copy someone elses idea I would contact and ask first. I, likes many pros am continually trying to come up with fresh ideas and to have someone so blatantly copying is a bit galling. Can I say I have never come across this happening on this or any of the other forums I use.


Pete

Maybe you should choose your Facebook friends better Pete

Regards George

[bodrighywood]

Point taken George LOL.

Pete

[David Buskell]

I think another by-product of this Act will be a renewed interest in history! What's that old saying? there's nothing new under the sun?

That also applies to wood art - the UK seems to think it has the monopoly on this but if you look at some of the museums, you'll see we are but new-comers.

Mark Baker tells a great story about the time he took Binh Pho to the Colchester Museum and Binh recognised work very similar to his - only difference was a few thousand years! (apologies to Mark if I've messed up - he'll no doubt correct me later)

Ask for a British Museum Friends membership for Christmas - might save on legal fees in the long run!

David

[David Buskell]

It's not only professionals we need to worry about. One of our club members bought in a piece recently which he had acquired from a charity shop. It was an earring stand BUT it was marked as a registered design.

D T Stanley of St. Albans was aware of his rights even back in 1990 when he registered the design and stamped this on the piece. Rights lasted for only 5 years at that time. Check out design no 2010302 if you're interested.

If someone can register the design for an earring stand, then we have problems!

David

[Paul Hannaby]

The trouble with registered designs, patents, copyrights etc. is that if it can be proven there is an earlier design/version, the case could be thrown out so I guess anyone registering any original design would need to be very specific about which elements were theirs.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Pete I agree with you to a certain degree as far as display and presentation is concerned but when it comes down to design ie, the shape, decoration perhaps or finish, maybe even the material it is made in , I don't think any of us has a leg to stand on. Take the snowman for instance, we all make them at Christmas, and I do appreciate this only affects those that make them for sale, but they are all basically the same. 3 balls for the head, body and legs,  either an integral hat or one in a separate material/timber, 3 buttons and a bit of wool for a scarf.Add some facial features and you have snowman.............but who thought of it first? Now everyone makes them.

[malcy]

There are two different categories here to consider. The first is patent protection and the other is registered design. I doubt very much that any woodturning is able to be patented these days as there is a tremendous amount of 'prior art'. Anyway patents can be very expensive to establish and maintain. A registered design is more akin to what we do, but even then this comes at a cost. Also if someone infringes either of these, the legal costs in challenging the infringer are even more costly. So unless you have a totally unique turning that has a perceived use and you can sell a large number at a good profit, I don't see much merit in going down either of these roads. I am afraid people will copy anything these days if they think there is a fast buck in it for them. The only satisfaction I guess you can have, is that someone deems what you have made as worth copying, all be it badly in many cases. Malcolm.

[Bryan Milham]

In retrospect I'll plead guilt to reproducing a work.

Both Les (Gwintog) and myself were so taken by the Seamus Cassady Ewer that appeared on the back page of Woodturning a couple of months ago, that we felt impelled to make our own versions of it.

Was it the Ewer itself or the shape/curves that called to us?

Did we blatantly copy it or use it as a creative stepping stone to our own impression in our own style?

We're we wrong to be so inspired?

Can it be considered that we trampled on someones IP rights?