INFO1111 Chap.5 Intellectual Property and Software Licences
Intellectual Property and Software Licences
This chapter covers intellectual property as the unit teaches it for software.
It defines intellectual property as the ownership of ideas and control over their tangible or virtual representation, and traces the history from letters patent through the Statute of Monopolies in 1624 to the Statute of Anne in 1710. It compares four ways of protecting software: trade secrets, which protect by keeping something hidden; copyright, which arises automatically for whoever writes the code; patents, which protect new, inventive and useful inventions in return for public disclosure; and trade marks, which protect a distinctive brand while it is used.
It explains who owns commissioned work, from portraits and photographs to films and apps, and the order that settles software ownership in Australia: any agreement first, then the employer for code written as part of an employee's job, then the creator. It ends with licences, free-use exceptions such as fair dealing, and the dispute over copying programming interfaces.
What this chapter covers
- 01
What intellectual property means: benefit and control
- 02
From letters patent to the Statute of Anne
- 03
Trade secrets and the effort to keep them
- 04
Copyright: automatic rights and the four owner rights
- 05
Patents: new, inventive, useful, and public
- 06
Trade marks, company names and domain names
- 07
Who owns commissioned work and software
- 08
Licences, free-use exceptions and interface disputes
Worked example · free
Three ownership calls for a small studio
- +1(a) The agreement comes first, so the client owns the app code it paid for.
- +1(b) No agreement and no employment applied when it was written, so the founder personally owns the game, not the studio.
- +1(c) With no agreement and no employment, the contractor who wrote the module owns it; the studio needs a licence or an assignment.
Key terms
- Intellectual Property
- The ownership of ideas and control over their tangible or virtual representation.
- Trade Secret
- Information that stays protected while it is not widely known and its owner makes reasonable efforts to keep it hidden.
- Copyright
- An automatic right of the creator to reproduce, publish, adapt and communicate a work to the public.
- Patent
- An exclusive right over a new, inventive and useful invention, granted in return for describing it publicly.
- Trade Mark
- Protection for a distinctive brand such as a word, logo, sound or smell, lost if the mark is not used.
- Fair Dealing
- A copyright exception allowing use for research, criticism or review, or parody or satire.
- End-User Licence Agreement
- A proprietary licence under which software is licensed to the user rather than sold.
Intellectual Property and Software Licences FAQ
Who owns the copyright in software I write?
In Australia it depends on the order the lecture gives: any agreement decides first; without one, code an employee writes as part of the job belongs to the employer; otherwise the people who wrote the code own it.
Can algorithms be patented?
No. The lecture states that algorithms and abstract concepts cannot be patented. A patent protects a technical solution that is new, inventive and useful, and the description becomes public.
Do I need to register copyright or a trade mark?
Copyright is automatic and needs no registration. A trade mark need not be registered either, but registration helps, and a mark must be actively used or it can be rescinded.
What are the free-use exceptions to copyright?
Fair dealing for research, criticism or review, and parody or satire; flexible dealing for teaching; educational exceptions such as classroom demonstrations; and back-up copies. Outside these, use needs the owner's permission or a licence.
What is the difference between a trade secret and a patent?
A trade secret protects by staying hidden and does not stop someone who invents the same thing independently. A patent gives an exclusive monopoly but requires public disclosure of the invention.
Exam move
Draw the ownership order as a three-box flowchart and practise it on six short cases you invent, mixing employees, contractors, students and clients. Make a four-row table for the protections with columns for how protection arises, what it covers and what ends it; most exam questions ask you to choose between two of them. Learn the four owner rights of copyright and the four groups of free-use exceptions as lists.
For the history, remember just the two statutes and what each changed: the Statute of Monopolies for patents in 1624 and the Statute of Anne for copyright in 1710. Before your group project begins, find out who owns the code you write for assignments, as the lecture suggests, and note where that rule is published.
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