MGT Notes

Legal Aspects of Managing Technology, 5e, Burgunder, Pg 4

Copyrights are legal instruments that provide protection for creative expressions. They prevent anyone other than an artist from copying expressions that are fixed in tangible media, so that artists have sufficient incentives to share their work and profit from it if desired. Copyrights can apply to books, sculptures, movies and paintings. However, they could also apply to artistic creations that are useful, such as computer programs and industrial designs. The protection can be for over 100 years, and it is easier to obtain than other forms for intellectual property protection.

A patent provides protection to a product idea, or a design and it gives a limited form of monopoly to its owner. In contrast, a copyright protects the expression of an idea and not to the idea itself. This way it is supposed to be less intrusive on competitive markets.

Owners have the ability to sell or transfer copyright privileges to others in order to satisfy their economic objectives.