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The Internet and Social Media
Sharon Givoni Consulting Copyright
We live in an age where most of us spend a significant portion of our everyday lives connected to the internet. Unfortunately, many people seem to treat online content as ‘public domain’, unaffected by the tenets of copyright law. Not so, as potentially serious consequences exist when it comes to using and appropriating content found […]
Contract Law for Designers
Sharon Givoni Consulting Copyright
Who would have thought that contract law involves more than just boring jargon and signing on dotted lines? This article aims to give you clear understanding on your rights, responsibilities and obligations regarding contract law within the creative industries. It also explains in simple terms what a contract is, and the different sorts of contracts […]
Copyright and Wrong: A Basic Guide for Designers
Sharon Givoni Consulting Copyright, Intellectual Property
Here we examine what is copyright, how are creative works protected? How not to infringe someone else’s copyright, all with a particular focus on designers. Read more…
Granola
Sharon Givoni Consulting Food Law, Intellectual Property, Trade marks
Ordinary language or protected trade mark – are you doing the right thing? There is a famous quote that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. True as that might be – this is the last thing you want when it comes to your own brand. We use phrases all the time and don’t think […]
‘Legal’ Battle of the Bulge
Sharon Givoni Consulting Food Law
In this article Sharon Givoni considers whether food companies may one day need to place “fat warnings” on their packaging and some overseas cases where people literally took “fat to court”. Today, with all the health and nutrition information required on packaging, health warnings are probably unlikely. Read more…
Preventing Copycats: Weaving Through the Legals
Sharon Givoni Consulting Arts and design
Imagine you come up with a great new pattern for curtain fabric that strikes a chord with consumers, a window shutter design or a special weave that flies off the shelves. What if you find out someone is copying you? Have you protected your IP? Can you stop them? How? This article considers how you […]
Street and Photography
Sharon Givoni Consulting Photography
Intellectual property lawyer, Sharon Givoni works with professional photographers. While many of her cases involve the photographer taking legal action, they can also easily find themselves as the defendant. One example is when photographing street art. Sometimes copyright law can prevent you from taking photos of street art if the effect of this means that […]
Protecting What’s Special
Sharon Givoni Consulting Protecting ideas
Most of us will have great business ideas from time to time. The challenge is how you can stop others from using them and slavishly copying them …. This article considers the law of confidential information and how you can protect that in Australia. It also considers the importance of registering unique trade marks and […]
Legally Speaking: Street Art (Part 2)
Sharon Givoni Consulting Street art
Did you know that you could infringe copyright in a painting if it features in the background of a photograph which is used for commercial purposes? Yes, true. The same applies to street art and even graffiti. If you reproduce an image of it in a book, newspaper, magazine or online that could actually breach […]
Legally Speaking: Street Art (Part 1)
Sharon Givoni Consulting Street art
Street art has gained credibility as a legitimate way for artists to communicate their works to the public outside of the confines of the mainstream art world. However, as it has increased in popularity, so has copying. Sometimes businesses forget (or do not realise) that street art – just like any other art – is […]