Using the work of others illegally? STOP NOW OR FACE COURT.
Here are two stories which have hit the headlines in the past few months. You’ve probably heard or read about both, but have you spotted the link between them?
On 6th June, The Guardian and The Washington Post printed leaked PowerPoint slides describing an NSA interception programme known as PRISM. This was the first in a long series of leaks to various newspapers by former NSA contractor Edward Snowdon, revelations which were met with a mixed response.
Snowdon himself has been called both a hero and a traitor. The legality of the NSA’s activities has been widely questioned, though Barack Obama stressed that the programme was not only legal, but “specifically authorized by Congress”. Senator John McCain, who ran against Obama in the 2008 presidential election, seems to agree, saying “we passed specific provisions of [the Patriot Act] that allowed the programme to take place”. On this side of the Atlantic, the Director General of Security Service MI5 said that the leaks were a “gift to terrorists” and caused “enormous damage”. But in response to recent reports that the NSA had listened to her telephone calls, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s position was simple: “Spying among friends is never acceptable.”
Long time broadcaster and former Tomorrow’s World presenter Adam Hart-Davis has something different to say about the PRISM programme. He calls the logo a “Copyright Infringement”.
Hart-Davis’ original photograph is available online, and is offered for free. However, that offer is subject to certain (not especially onerous) terms, for example that the Author of the work is acknowledged. Since NSA did not comply with those terms, their use of the photograph without the Copyright Holder’s permission is infringement.
The PRISM logo which incorporates the original photograph can also be viewed online. The photograph was flipped upside-down and further modified to create the logo, but to save you from having to stand on your head to make the comparison Damon Hart-Davis has flipped it back the right way up so that you can compare the images side by side.
Only around a month after the PRISM story broke, vans carrying Government advertisements appeared in six London Boroughs. The message carried by the advertisement was stark: “In the UK Illegally? GO HOME OR FACE ARREST.” Home Secretary Theresa May defended the strategy, pointing out that “voluntary returns are the most cost-effective way of removing illegal immigrants”, but she found little support. It was probably a surprise to no-one when Business Secretary and Liberal Democrat Vince Cable called the vans “stupid and offensive”, but the writing was really on the wall when Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing and “tough on immigration” UK Independence Party said that they were “nasty”.
This week, Theresa May eventually admitted that the experiment had “not been a good idea.” But in amongst all the controversy, again there’s an IP angle. Designer Fabien Delage has accused the government of using his font without permission.
Like Hart-Davis’ photograph, Delage’s font is available to download online, free-of-charge. But again, use is subject to conditions. In this case, the font is only free for personal use. Commercial use requires a licence, for which a fee is payable. There is also a hint that, had he been asked, Delage would have refused to sell a licence to the Home Office. He told Design Week that ‘My partners and customers now suspect I might have been involved in this campaign which, let me tell you, has been quite unpopular abroad.’
It is understood that, after threatening to sue, Delage has now reached a commercial settlement with the Home Office.
It’s easy to criticise Government Agencies with unpopular policies, but it’s worth considering whether there is something to learn from their mistakes. Can you really guarantee that no document that leaves your office contains copyright material which you do not have permission to use? What about confidential internal documents which should never be seen by outsiders anyway? It’s tempting to take the attitude that copyright in such documents does not matter since the copyright holder will never find out, but the PRISM story illustrates that disclosure is always a risk, no matter what security precautions are taken. If a confidential document is leaked from your business, copyright infringement might not be the greatest of your problems, but it can only add to the pain, embarrassment and potential financial loss of the breach.
Plenty of material is available on the internet. Some of it is truly free for all to use, but much is not. Even photographs, fonts, and computer programs which are offered free-of-charge may come with conditions, and many require a payment for commercial use.
Don’t be fooled by the ease and speed provided by the World Wide Web. Slow down, and check before you download. You might be glad you did!
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