Articles
Register or lose it! Protecting your furniture designs in Australia
Sharon Givoni Consulting Arts and design, Copyright, Intellectual Property
Have you ever wondered how some retailers can sell replica furniture and not get into trouble? Have you ever wondered if there is anything you can do in Australia to prevent your designs from being copied? Fear not, if you are a furniture maker in Australia then rest assured there are things that you can (and should!) […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Copyright and the Internet – busting some myths
Sharon Givoni Consulting Internet Law
In Cyberspace, once your illustrations are posted online you lose a certain degree of control. As a lawyer, I often see the same issues arise. For example, people ask about the ten per cent rule and also whether if they post a copy of their drawing it themselves they are protected. Misconceptions about the use of […]
Unpicking the Threads
Sharon Givoni Consulting Retail and fashion Law
Textile companies or designers may be surprised to learn that, if you apply a three-dimensional element to your fabric, such as an embroidered or woven element, you could lose the benefit of copyright protection altogether. This article canvasses copyright and designs in the context of textiles. Read more… Kindly reposted with the permission of ATF […]