Intellectual Property Rights Copyright

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The term intellectual property refers broadly to the creations of the human mind. Intellectual property rights protect the interests of creators by giving them property rights over their creations. The property rights usually give the creator an exclusive right (copyright) over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time. Specifically, as intellectual property relates to the use of information technology, there are many issues concerning copyright. Copyright as it relates to information technology includes, for example, websites, multi-media products, on-line services, software, electronic banking and financial services, digital distribution of protected works and trademarks. Technology and copyright have a complex relationship. Those copyright concerns involve ethical issues and impact both individuals and organizations. Intellectual property law has been based on the premise that copyright holders will enforce their own rights by monitoring the use of their works and suing infringers. To do this, they must know of specific cases of infringement, and they must be able to collect enough evidence to prove in court that a particular person or corporation violated their rights. Information technology has made the copy, transfer, and transformation of works cheaper, faster, and more private; moreover, has made copyright infringement more prevalent and harder to detect and prove. Without effective enforcement of their rights, intellectual property owners may have less incentive to produce and disseminate intellectual works. This could jeopardize the benefits society gains from the open distribution of intellectual works. The realness of intellectual property law might itself be undermined because there are widespread infringements. The enforcement problem raises questions about the nature and efficiency of the intellectual property system as a whole.

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