A commonly asked question is what should I do If you ever come across your work being used by another company or person without your permission. It has become increasingly common, due to ease of access on the internet, that original works are copied by others. Read below to see what can be done in such a case.
What are your options if your work is being copied?
If you find that your work is being copied, you should first identify the type of work it is. Different types of intellectual property (IP) have different protection, which is why you need to be clear on the legal route that needs to be taken. There are two types of IP which are commonly copied, copyrights and trade mark. As these have different methods and modes of protection, your legal actions will differ as a result.
We discuss both type of IP and what to do if your work is being copied as follows:
Copyright – Any original creative or intellectual work such as paintings, writing or videos falls under copyright protection. You automatically obtain copyright protection when you create an original piece of work. However, you need to research if your work is indeed protected through copyright by reading the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
If your work has been used without permission, you need to investigate what the purpose of the use is. If your work has been used without permission for non-commercial research, private study, teaching for example, it is potentially covered under exceptions to copyrights. In this case, you can politely ask the third party to credit or remove your work if you do not like its use.
If another business or person uses your copyright protected work for sales, promotion or any other commercial purpose, it could be infringement of your copyright. The formal process of stopping them starts with contacting them to ask that they cease the use of your copyright. This is done through a cease and desist letter. If the third party refuses to do so, you can escalate the matter by suing them for infringement. This can be a lengthy process and requires a large amount of evidence from you.
As part of the copyright infringement process, you can seek damages if you suffered financially as a result of use of your copyright. Alternatively, you can seek accounts of profits if the other party had financially benefited from your copyright. An example of this is if someone sold merchandise reproducing a drawing you created.
In cases where you are not the creator of the work, and the work was created for you for e.g. a photography project, you need to acquire copyright of the work by getting the creator to sign over the rights to you.
Please note that an idea cannot be protected as a copyright. It is the expression of the idea that is protected so if you had an idea for a book and you shared it with someone who copied it, then you cannot claim copyright infringement. If someone copied the book you wrote, then it could be considered as copyright infringement.
Trademark – A trade mark is a sign which distinguishes your goods or services from those of your competitors. It can be a name, logo, slogan, shape or even a smell. Companies or people who have not registered their trade mark still have limited protection which is more difficult and costly to enforce the if they registered their trade mark.
Benefits of registering a trade mark:
- Easier to enforce your trade marks protection
- Secure exclusivity to use your name or logo for specific goods or services
- Have the ability to license your trade mark
If you find that another company or person is using your trade mark without permission, you will follow the same process as outlined for copyright above. You contact the party to ask them to stop the use of your mark. This is done through a cease and desist letter. If they do not comply, the matter can be escalated in court through a trade mark infringement case.
You can claim damages or accounts of profits if they financially benefited from your trademark. Damages are claimed if you suffered a loss as a result of the trade mark infringement while accounts of profit are used to claim part of the profits made as a result of use of your trade mark.
As stated above if you do not have a trade mark registration, it is costly and time consuming to enforce your unregistered trade mark. You will have to prove that you have gained goodwill in the market through use, the use of your mark constitutes misrepresentation and that your bran has suffered damage.
This post gives you a brief overview of the process that you have to follow, but each case is different which is why you should consult with an IP solicitor. We can help you in such circumstances so contact us on trademark@freemanharris.co.uk or call 020 7791 9050.
