http://www.thinkipstrategy.com/ipthinktank/273/copyright-evergreening/ Trusted advisors to the world's most innovative companies Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:10:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.thinkipstrategy.com/ipthinktank/273/copyright-evergreening/comment-page-1/#comment-1199 Duncan Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:16:04 +0000 http://localhost:100/thinkipstrategy/?p=273#comment-1199 <p>Peter - you would infringe copyright with your first copy.  The closer that each minor variation is to the original, the more likely it infringes the original copyright (which is fine if you're the original copyright owner).  <br />The copyright owner gets to use this to their advantage because the minor variations, when they are created, each have their own, new copyright term.  So, minor variations of each of these may also infringe copyright in each of them.  And so on.<br />Is the law asymetrical?  Well - you can't avoid copyright infringement merely by making a minor change.  However, minor changes reinforce the notion that the newly created work has its own, separate copyright rather than being covered by the original work.</p> Peter – you would infringe copyright with your first copy.  The closer that each minor variation is to the original, the more likely it infringes the original copyright (which is fine if you’re the original copyright owner). 
The copyright owner gets to use this to their advantage because the minor variations, when they are created, each have their own, new copyright term.  So, minor variations of each of these may also infringe copyright in each of them.  And so on.
Is the law asymetrical?  Well – you can’t avoid copyright infringement merely by making a minor change.  However, minor changes reinforce the notion that the newly created work has its own, separate copyright rather than being covered by the original work.

]]> http://www.thinkipstrategy.com/ipthinktank/273/copyright-evergreening/comment-page-1/#comment-1198 Peter Cebon Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:13:52 +0000 http://localhost:100/thinkipstrategy/?p=273#comment-1198 <p>If Disney can perpetually renew the copyright on Mickey Mouse by creating minor variations, what is stopping me from copying it and simply making a minor variation to avoid breaching copyright?  Is the law asymettrical?</p> If Disney can perpetually renew the copyright on Mickey Mouse by creating minor variations, what is stopping me from copying it and simply making a minor variation to avoid breaching copyright?  Is the law asymettrical?

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