When creating software, a site or another product using third-party copyright objects, you should pay attention to the source of the purpose, the rights to it and the legal registration of the use of rights in your project. A frequent mistake on the part of entrepreneurs is the absence of an indication of the source, the lack of a contractual registration of the transfer of rights to a work.
All these mistakes and lack of due attention when using objects of intellectual rights entail the risk of being held accountable.
First of all, it is worth paying attention to the possibility of seeking legal protection from the right holder with a claim for damages or compensation. Besides, some countries provide for administrative and criminal liability for copyright infringement.
Intellectual property, copyright - these words are familiar to everyone but think about their meaning after they face the consequences of filing a claim of copyright infringement and the requirement to pay a significant amount of compensation. Meanwhile, worldwide, the number of requests for protection of copyright against unlawful use is growing every year, including checking software and computer games for copyright infringement — a considerable percentage.
In the summer of 2018, Yandex was forced to pay 300,000 rubles in compensation in favour of Publishing House Jem. This loss was due to the placement of cover images for the “Hands Up!” Music albums in violation of copyright. The inattentive attitude of the company to the use of third-party materials in its product led to financial losses.
Copyright is an object of unregistered intellectual property. It is often difficult to determine the ownership of an object of intellectual property to the author or copyright holder.
Every developer, software publisher, investor, as well as an entrepreneur using previously created objects of intellectual property, are under threat.
What will be a violation of copyright and how it threatens
The creator of the game may be faced with a massive amount of intellectual property when working on your project. The copyright applies to all works, including the script of the play, texts, music, design, visuals, computer programs, characters, etc.
In the process of creating software and computer games, our Clients encounter works:
List:
List:
- Establishing developers and other employees;
- Freely available;
- Borrowed from third parties;
- Used under the contract.
How to avoid copyright infringement
How to avoid copyright infringement
It is necessary to check the grounds for using this information, ownership of copyright and availability of permission to use before placing any information and using it in the created product to prevent such a situation.
Competent legal registration of objects of copyright, timely audit of games on copyright infringement allows minimizing the risks of bringing to responsibility for copyright infringement of intellectual property.
To prevent copyright infringement, professional drafting of vital legal documents will be required:
For example
For example
- Employment contract and service assignment;
- Contract or service order for developers;
- License agreement for the copyright holder;
- Copyright alienation agreement;
- etc.
Each document is carefully studying by Law and Trust specialists based on the individual needs of the Client.
If the Client’s product is already in development or more, it has been implemented and released to the public, a preliminary in-depth audit of all software or games require.
What is a product audit, and why is it needed?
What is a product audit, and why is it needed?
A product audit is an inventory of all objects used in the software or during its release. The specialists of our team as a result of checking software for copyright infringement reveal all the risks of violation of intellectual rights, prosecution and financial losses.
Timely audit of the product to identify violations of intellectual property rights on intellectual property and the elimination of the violations found can significantly reduce the risk of civil, administrative and criminal liability.
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Victoria Zhelezova
Branch Director, HR
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Dariia Grib
Legal secretaries & Receptionists
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