Chapter 8 Answer guidance to end of chapter questions

1. Describe which forms of intellectual property right are applied in the information society and how and to what are they applied.

To answer this question I would expect the student to discuss in order:

1. To correctly identify the key IPRs which are applied in the Information Society: Copyrights, Patents, Trade Marks and the Database Right.
2. Copyright law applies to computer software, online content including music, movies and print content, screen displays. You cannot copy content protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner unless what you are doing is a Fair Dealing under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. 
3. Patent Law most directly applies to software related inventions – the use of software to do a new and innovative process. Patents require an application (specification) and registration.
4. Trade Marks protect the distinctive characteristics of a brand identity or trade name.  They are important online to identify the supplier of products or services.
5. The database right is a new right to protect the content stored in databases. It prevents replication, extraction from or reutilisation of database content.

2. Do intellectual property rights need to adapt to the information society?

To answer this question I would expect the student to discuss in order:

1. Discussion of the fact that all IPRs (excepting the database right) were created to service the atomic world and have atomic world principles (See John Perry Barlow’s Wine Without Bottles argument from Ch.1).
2. Lawrence Lessig and his claims that IPRs are involved in an enclosure movement surrounding digital content.
3.  The chilling effect of IPRs on creativity and the wiki culture of the internet.
4. Creative Commons as an answer.