Welcome to August's Issue of the Newsletter for members of "The Creative Networks"

'Creative Networks' at UCE Birmingham's Technology Innovation Centre (tic) is about bringing together all parties involved in sound and screen-based media in the West Midlands. 'Creative Networks' seeks to promote both successful business development and collaboration. It also seeks to contribute to the establishment of a strong, long-term, sound and screen-based Creative Industry in the West Midlands. The tic achieves this through increasing knowledge sharing and use of innovative technologies, creative practice and business processes.

Regular monthly networking events are held at tic. They offer opportunities for individuals and companies to network, make pitches and identify the resources they are seeking or support for the projects they are planning.

Visit our online portal www.creativenetworksonline.com for up-to-date news, funding, business support, training and tender opportunities.

Thursday 24th August - From 6.00pm til LATE at tic, Millennium Point
The Collaborative Networking Event for Creative Industry Professionals

Creative Networks SUMMER PARTY
The West Midlands Annual Summer Extravaganza for Creative Professionals
Creative Networks aims to promote successful business development and collaboration in the West Midlands creative industry.

We want to celebrate the success of Creative Networks and thank you for contributing to that success. A number of strong partnerships have been formed by event attendees and numerous tenders open to bid have been posted on the Creative Networks portal. 

No doubt you’ve all been working flat out, now it’s time to let your hair down and relax!

The Creative Networks event is FREE. If you would like to join us, please contact Mandeep Chana on email mandeep.chana@tic.ac.uk, or call Scarlet Scardanelli on phone 07969 226 693.

You'll be very welcome.

Register on the Creative Networks portal www.creativenetworksonline.com and select the 'Business Profile' section to take the opportunity to showcase your media services and projects on the Digital Asset Management (DAM) System.

Dids MacDonald - Chief Executive Company: ACID (Anti Copying in Design) email didsm@acid.uk.com phone 0845 644 3617 web www.acid.uk.com

Dids Macdonald is the Chief Executive Officer of ACID. Anti Copying In Design is a hard-hitting international member organisation committed to fighting copyright theft within the design industry. ACID began in 1996 as a round table discussion group of twelve trade associates, all of whom were concerned at the threats posed by intellectual property theft, having been been victims of plagiarism themselves. The organisation now represents companies in the creative industries with a collective turnover of £3 billion.

Some common sense advice was that if you don’t want people to copy you, tell them. You can warn off potential IP thieves by placing a notice on your materials stating that the intellectual property rights for your designs are yours and any infringement will result in the matter being pursued vigorously. If a copycat sees explicitly that your business is an active protector of IP, they will be much less likely to plagiarise your design ideas.

ACID aims to change the culture that it is acceptable practice to copy or steal people’s design ideas. This is particularly pertinent in modern design with the continuing growth of the internet, and the ease at which ideas can be stolen. ACID now offer IP insurance and have reached over 200 settlements with over £2million recovered.

Dids warned us that design theft is not a victimless crime, with livelihoods being ruined by intellectual property thieves. The main message from this evening was that even if you are a designer, it is essential to know the basics of IP law. If you are interested in becoming a member of ACID, then visit their website to find out more about the benefits.

Nicholas Briggs - Partner Company: Putsmans Solicitors

email nicholas.briggs@putsmans.com
web www.putsmans.com
phone 0121 237 3057

Nick specialises in all aspects of Intellectual Property law from scientific disputes, particularly concerning patents and designs to trade marks, domain names, confidential information, database rights and copyright.  Nick qualified as a solicitor in 1991 and has specialised in IP for 10 years, developing vast experience in litigation. He joined Putsmans as a Partner in 2003 to head up the firm’s Intellectual Property team.

In any court case, the result is decided on tangible evidence. Vague recollections and descriptions of ideas mean little, so he advised creative businesses to create an auditable paper trail. Then if a court case does arise regarding IP ownership, you are well armed to win any case that you contest.

Nick made a useful point concerning joint ventures, when for example two independent organisations or businesses collaborate on a project. Likening such projects to a marriage, he indicated that neither party will want to discuss eventualities of a partnership breaking down. With this in mind, Nick advised partnerships to agree to intellectual property ownership before a project begins, whether this be 50/50 split or one party owning the entire intellectual property rights, it is important to clarify the arrangements from the offset.

Ideas and notions cannot be copyrighted. Only tangible, fixed and original work is eligible for protection. So if you have a tune in your head or play it to an audience, it cannot be considered your work until it is documented physically, whether that be on paper, compact disc or some other method of recording.

Nick left us with the following points that should give us a good grounding for protecting our intellectual property:

	Keep records of resources invested in work
	Keep records of when work is created
	Mark works as copyright
	Put suspected infringers on notice
	Ensure appropriate agreements are in place with outside contractors
	Watch what you publish

Cobbetts LLP Contact: Frances Anderson phone 0845 404 2572 email frances.anderson@cobbetts.co.uk website www.cobbetts.co.uk

Frances Anderson is a commercial lawyer with extensive intellectual property experience, particularly in the fields of media, advertising and information technology. She acts for clients in the acquisition, licensing, clearance and exploitation of rights in music, film, television and advertising. In the field of music she regularly advises on management, recording and publishing agreements.  She also deals with computer system procurement contracts, software (including open source software) licensing and development and web based activities.

Frances gave us an interactive and insightful overview of this subject area, with many of the audience raising some interesting hypothetical questions. After giving some very precise and informative answers, we were left with the following points to consider when it comes to protecting our own work:

1. Copyright is not registrable, so keep the evidence that you created the work in the first place.

2. Copyright comes into existence when a work is created, not when it is a concept.

3. Copyright is not a monopoly right – but a right to stop other people from copying your work, or issuing copies to the public, performing, transmitting or adapting.

4. If you are an employee creating a work in the course of your employment the copyright will belong to your employer.

5. An assignment of the copyright must be in writing, signed by or on behalf of the copyright owner (so get it in writing).

6. Copyright can be ‘carved up’, with different uses being licensed to different people, in different territories, for variables of time. If you licence someone to use a copyright work make the scope and term of the licence clear.

7. Litigation is expensive, time consuming and unpleasant.

8. You can avoid most litigation by ensuring that your dealings with copyright works are well documented and that contracts for their acquisition, assignment, licensing and exploitation are in writing.

9. If you copy a substantial (judged on a qualitative rather than a quantitative basis) part of a copyright work for commercial gain without the copyright owner’s consent, you run the risk of litigation. If you are commissioning or creating a new work, avoid being derivative.

You are invited to be part of a FREE 4-day Creative Networks Showcase of creative talent at Millennium Point - which could promote you to a wider market.

From 26th to 29th October 2006 'Shake your Arts' offers Midlands creative companies and freelancers a unique opportunity to demonstrate their skills, capabilities and achievements to wide-ranging business and public audiences.

Resources to demonstrate film, video and other creative performance activities will be available in and around tic. Further exhibition space will be offered to selected participants in the HUB on the lower floor (Curzon Street entrance) of Millennium Point.

Participants will be selected from entrants at the discretion of the steering groups. To submit your 'Shake your Arts' entry, please request the submission guidelines by emailing one of the addresses shown below:

For music & dance submissions please contact either Kent Davis or Angie Morrison email MusicandDanceShowcase@tic.ac.uk

For film, video & theatre submissions please contact either Phil Jones or Aston Walker email FilmandVideoShowcase@tic.ac.uk

For interactive & design submissions please contact Jashpal Mall email InteractiveandDesignShowcase@tic.ac.uk

All submissions to be made by 4th September 2006
For further information visit: www.creativenetowrksonline.com