Law for Data Science module 3

Intellectual property as private law

• IP has elements from property and contract law

• IP has relative rights

• IP property rights (absolute) → copyright

Intellectual property rights (IPRs)

• Incentive to create/innovate and to share

• Subject matter of IPRs are non-rivalrous and non exclusionary

• IPRs are limited in time

Trademark

• Badge of origin

• Have to be registered

• Requirements: a sign, capable of being represented graphically, distinctive from origin

• Includes: words, personal names, designs, letters, numerals, the shape of goods/their packaging

Trade secrecy

Has the following requirements:

• Has commercial value

• The information has been protected with reasonable efforts to keep it secret

• Not generally known or easily accessible to people who normally deal with that type of information

Trade secrecy characteristics

• Not protection of idea/date

• Protection against improper appropriation, use, disclosure

• Cheaper that patent protection

• Societal drawback: Algorithms remain unavailable to others, reducing follow-on innovation

Patents

An exclusive legal right that allows an inventor to prevent others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited time in exchange for publicly disclosing it

• Limited in time

• Requirements: an invention, novelty, inventive step, industrial application

Pro’s patent

• Exclusive rights

• Court actions

• Base for loans

• Limited in time (20 years)

Con’s patent

• High cost (30000-60000)

• Disclosure requirement (work is shared with the public)

• Limited in time (20 years)

Copyright

A legal right that automatically protects original creative works by giving the creator exclusive rights to use, copy, and distribute them

Copyright protection

• No protection of ideas

• BUT protection of the expression of a creation

Requirements copyright

Originality

• Author’s own creation

• Bares creators personal stamp

• Free and creative choices were made

Exclusive rights

• Exploitation rights (allows you to make money)

• Moral rights

Hyperlinking

Providing clickable links to copyrighted content is generally lawful unless it reaches a new public, bypasses access restrictions, or links (especially for profit) to content that is illegally published

Who owns (copyright - software)

• Incase 1 author → the author self

• Multiple authors (employees) → owner company owns it (company contract)

• Multiple authors (no employees) → everyone gets owner rights

Exceptions copyright

• Art 5

• Most notable: covering acts of reproduction necessary for the reasonable use of the program

• Exception private use: most times they limit the number of devices (e.g. Netflix)

• Right to observe/test/study (provided you already had the right to use)

Decomplication

Reproduction and translation of code allowed

• Provided it is used to achieve interoperability

• Cannot be used for further purposes/shared with others

• Cannot be used to create a similar program

Creative commons licenses

• Free software globally with no restrictions possible by subsequent users, for subsequent versions (CC0 → also referred to as copyleft)

• Attribution (by) → Others must give you credit the way you request

• ShareAlike (sa) → Others can use, modify and share your works, as long as they distribute any modified work on the same terms

• NonCommercial (nc) → Others can use, modify and share for any purpose other than commercially

• NoDerivatives (nd) → Others can copy, use and share your work, but are not allowed to modify your work

Database

A structured collection of independent works, data, or other materials that are systematically organized and individually accessible by electronic or other means

Two distinct rights form the database directive

• Art 3 (which has its basis in copyright) → Database must be original, does not require substantial investment

• Art 7 (sui generis right) → not al databases are protected, does not require originality does require substantial investment

Substantial investment

• obtaining

• verification

• presentation

• don’t need all three, only one is enough

• Can be quantitative or qualitative

Lawful users

• May extract or reuse insubstantial parts of a public database.

• Applies to databases made publicly available.

• Must not interfere with the database's normal exploitation or harm the maker's legitimate interests.

• Must not infringe the copyright holder's rights.

New legislation - Data Act

• Art 43

• Databases containing certain data → The sui generis database right does not apply to data generated by or obtained from connected products or related services covered by the Data Act