Intellectual property

--- title: Intellectual property description: A dynamic compilation and evolving guide on intellectual property, focusing on its definition, significance, and various models in the context of both tangible and intangible assets. tags: FabAcademy, FLU, Future Learning Unit, Fab Lab Barcelona, MDEF, MDDI --- # Intellectual property _A dynamic compilation and evolving guide on intellectual property, focusing on its definition, significance, and various models in the context of both tangible and intangible assets._ :::warning This note is a living document where we compile information about Intellectual property, and related topics. **Expect it to evolve over time!** ::: [TOC] ## External links [MIRO Board](https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPsg9f9A=/) [Tool](https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/eupl/solution/joinup-licensing-assistant/jla-find-and-compare-software-licenses) ## Introduction ### What is property? **What gives you property of something?** Possession, effort invested, first come, closeness… **What does owning something mean?** You can use it as you like, control how others use it (or don't), give it to someone else, and interchange it… Nowadays, you can say in most cases that **you own your body and the product of the work it does**. It hasn't been forever like this. Actually, in some places, it isn't. **Ownership is relative**; for example, if you own a piece of land, do you own all the sky on top of it? And what about everything that's under your land? If you grow food on someone else's land, who owns it? **Property is a social engineering tool**; it influences how people behave, work and live; historically, it has been defined by social agreements or impositions by force. Throughout history, the relationship between ownership rules and power has been a very close one; wars and violence have defined most of the rules that end up being adopted by society. The critical part here is that **the way we understand ownership has changed over time**, and its definition varies depending on many social, cultural and political factors defined by humans. **How we understand and use property significantly impacts social relations** and, in general, everyone's quality of life. ### What is intellectual property? Physical **things produced with your effort are yours**; you can sell them and control how others access them. We can say that **intellectual property is the ownership of the non-tangible things you produce**, like a song, a story, an idea… There is a big difference between traditional ownership of physical things and intellectual ownership; the possibility of replicating intellectual work presents an entirely different paradigm with no effort involved in most cases. You don't lose your possession when you sell an **intellectual product; give a "copy" and keep yours**. Scarcity only plays a role in this operation if we artificially introduce it. The concept of **intellectual property can be used to generate scarcity in non-tangible goods so they can behave similarly to physical things** and allow traditional forms of interchange to be applied. The capacity to replicate **goods (with low or no cost) opens new ways of understanding ownership that were not possible before**, bringing different possibilities to improve individual and collective wellness to the table. Intellectual goods significantly impact today's societies and economies; the **rules we use to regulate their ownership will shape and define how we will work and live in the future.** ## Different IP models ![](https://i.imgur.com/NtfQDEP.png =300x) This is a comparison of different IP Models. From _All Rights Retained_ to _All Rights Relinquished_. :::info **Comparison of different types of licenses** - [In Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_and_open-source_software_licenses) - [Selector by EU Commision](https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/eupl/solution/joinup-licensing-assistant/jla-find-and-compare-software-licenses) - And more guides about it [here](https://ben.balter.com/2014/10/08/open-source-licensing-for-government-attorneys/) and [here](https://opensource.guide/legal/#understanding-the-legal-implications-of-open-source) ::: ### Patent A patent is a form of intellectual property that gives its owner the **legal right to exclude others from making, using, selling, and importing a (new?), unique and valuable invention, discovery or process for a limited period of years**, in exchange for publishing an enabling public disclosure of the invention. In most countries, patent rights fall under **civil law** and the patent holder must sue someone infringing the patent to enforce their rights. In some industries, patents are an essential form of competitive advantage; in others, they are irrelevant. A patent, being an exclusionary right, does not necessarily give the patent owner the right to exploit the invention subject to the patent. For example, many inventions are improvements of prior inventions that someone else's patent may still cover. Suppose an inventor obtains a patent on improvements to an existing invention which is still under patent. In that case, they can only legally use the improved invention if the patent holder of the original invention gives permission, which they may refuse. :::info The patent is valid for a duration of typically 20 years. ::: ### Copyright Copyright grants creators exclusive rights over their creative works, which generally include, at a minimum, the right to reproduce, distribute, display, and make adaptations. The phrase “All Rights Reserved” is often used by owners to indicate that they reserve all rights granted to them under the law. **When copyright expires, the work enters the public domain**, and the rights holder can no longer stop others from engaging in those activities under copyright, except for moral rights reserved to creators in some jurisdictions. :::info The copyright is generally valid during the life of the author/creator, plus 70 years. For works made for hire (works created for a business under a contract that gives the business the copyright): 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter. ::: ### Public Domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds exclusive rights, anyone can legally use or reference those works without permission. **Examples** - "Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License" ([WTFPL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTFPL)) - [Creative Commons Zero](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CC0) - [Unlicense](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unlicense) ### Open source > Open source licenses are licenses that comply with the [Open Source Definition](https://opensource.org/osd) — in brief, they allow software to be freely used, modified, and shared. To be approved by the Open Source Initiative (also known as the OSI), a license must go through the [Open Source Initiative's license review process](https://opensource.org/approval). That is probably the shortest definition of them all, but this is what the content below is about! :::info Find the licenses here: https://opensource.org/licenses ::: :::warning **The default case** When you make a creative work (such as writing, graphics, or code), that work is under exclusive copyright by default. That is, the law assumes that as the author of your work, you have a say in what others can do with it. > In general, that means nobody else can use, copy, distribute, or modify your work without being at risk of take-downs, shake-downs, or litigation. > Open source is unusual because the author expects others to use, modify, and share the work. However, because the legal default is still exclusive copyright, you need a license explicitly stating these permissions. **Making your Git project public is not the same as licensing your project.** ::: ### The Creative Commons Case Creative Commons is a project that tries to simplify the way Intellectual Property licenses are chosen. It provides a simple set of rules for choosing a license, but **it doesn't mean that they are open source as defined by [the open source definition](https://opensource.org/osd)**. You can [find them here](https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/licensing-types-examples). [![](https://i.imgur.com/GNXSa5o.png)](http://creativecommons.org.au/content/licensing-flowchart.pdf) ## Software Licensing Models For the specific case of software is as follows: ![](https://i.imgur.com/lxpxU5z.jpg) ### Copyleft Licenses #### GNU Licenses: GPL and LGPL [Free Software Foundation](https://www.fsf.org/): Free as in freedom ![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/GPLv3_Logo.svg/220px-GPLv3_Logo.svg.png =180x) and ![](https://duckduckgo.com/i/8d088450.png =200x) > Nobody should be restricted by the software they use. There are four freedoms that every user should have: > - the freedom to **use** the software for any purpose, > - the freedom to **change** the software to suit your needs, > - the freedom to **share the software** with your friends and neighbors, and > - the freedom to **share the changes** you make. > > When a program offers users all of these freedoms, we call it **free software**. [Quick Guide to GNU GPL](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/quick-guide-gplv3.html) [Why and why not LGPL](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-not-lgpl.en.html) [Non-commercial?](http://www.ladyada.net/library/openhardware/license.html) **GPL** Free software license by the Free Sofwware Foundation, which guarantees end users the freedom to run, study, share and modify the software. **Examples** of GNU GPL Project: - Linux Kernel - GCC :::info :clap: **100% of Supercomputers in the world** are running Linux https://itsfoss.com/linux-runs-top-supercomputers/ ::: **LGPL** The GNU Lesser General Public License is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation. The license allows developers and companies to use and integrate software released under the LGPL into their own software without being required by the terms of a strong copyleft license to release the source code of their own components. **When to use it?** when there is no advantage for the software released to use this library, i.e. when the functionalities it gives are already available through other libraries. **Examples** of products using LGPL licensed software - **Adobe Acrobat Reader** - Acrobat Reader is a closed-source PDF reader developed by Adobe. It uses the Xpdf library, which is licensed under the LGPL. - **Apple iTunes** - iTunes is a closed-source media player developed by Apple. It uses the TagLib library, which is licensed under the LGPL. - **Microsoft Office** - Microsoft Office is a suite of closed-source productivity software developed by Microsoft. It uses the libxml2 library, which is licensed under the LGPL. #### Mozilla Public License (MPL) It is a weak copyleft license, characterized as a middle ground between permissive free software licenses and the GNU General Public License (GPL), that seeks to balance the concerns of proprietary and open source developers. **Examples** - LibreOffice ### _Permissive_ Licenses Unlike copyleft licenses and copyright law, permissive free software licenses do not control the license terms under which a **derivative work** falls. Copyleft says that anyone who redistributes the software, with or without changes, must pass along the freedom to copy further and change it. Permissive licenses, however, have created a lot of controversy and, in particular, have conflicted with some _copyleft_ licenses, the argumentation being the control someone has over the rights of the derivative works. #### BSD License BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses, imposing minimal restrictions on the use and distribution of covered software. This is in contrast to copyleft licenses, which have share-alike requirements. The original BSD license was used for its namesake, the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), a Unix-like operating system. The original version has since been revised, and its descendants are referred to as modified BSD licenses. #### MIT License Permissive Free Sofware license that permits reuse within proprietary software provided that all copies of the licensed software include a copy of the MIT License terms and the copyright notice. The MIT license is also compatible with many copyleft licenses, such as the GNU General Public License (GPL); MIT licensed software can be integrated into GPL software, but not the other way around. :::info **Patent license?** Like the BSD license the MIT license does not include an express patent license. Both the BSD and the MIT licenses were drafted before the patentability of software was generally recognized under US law. ::: ## Hardware Licensing Models In addition to the models indicated above (Patents, Public Domain, etc.), there is a model in which you can create hardware and release as open source. > Open source hardware is hardware **whose design is made publicly available** so that anyone can **study, modify, distribute, make, and sell the design or hardware based on that design**. The hardware's source, the design from which it is made, is available in the preferred format for making modifications to it. > > Ideally, open source hardware uses readily-available components and materials, standard processes, open infrastructure, unrestricted content, and open-source design tools to maximize the ability of individuals to make and use hardware. Open source hardware gives people the freedom to control their technology while sharing knowledge and encouraging commerce through the open exchange of designs. * [Open Source Hardware](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_hardware) * [Free Hardware designs](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-hardware-designs.html) * [CERN Open Hardware License Project](https://ohwr.org/project/cernohl/wikis/home) * [Projects using the CERN Open Hardware Licence](https://ohwr.org/project/cernohl/wikis/CernOhlProjects) :::info **Historic example**: [Reprap Project](https://www.reprap.org/wiki/RepRap) vs [Makerbot](https://www.cnet.com/news/pulling-back-from-open-source-hardware-makerbot-angers-some-adherents/) ::: ## Resources :::success **Readings** ➡️ [Full categorized readings list](https://hackmd.io/MIk9PhPbQBitWaRVs_dn8Q?both) ::: ### Tools - [Open Source Initiative - _The Open source definition_](https://opensource.org/docs/osd) - [Open Source Hardware Definition (OSHW)](https://www.oshwa.org/definition/) - [ChooseaLicense (Github)](https://choosealicense.com/) ### Case Studies - [24 case studies in Made with Creative Commons](https://medium.com/@madewithcc) - [When CERN made the World Wide Web technology royalty free basis](https://home.cern/news/news/computing/twenty-years-free-open-web) - [The Arduino case](https://hackaday.com/2017/10/05/who-owns-arduino/ ) - [Audicity Telemetry Debate](https://hackaday.com/2021/05/17/telemetry-debate-rocks-audacity-community-in-open-source-dustup/#more-476353) - [WRT54G History: The Router That Accidentally Went Open Source](https://tedium.co/2021/01/13/linksys-wrt54g-router-history/) - [Elastic Search Case](https://www.elastic.co/blog/why-license-change-AWS) - [Multimeters without a country: Flukes broad trademark bans yellow multimeter imports](https://hackaday.com/2014/03/19/multimeters-without-a-country-flukes-broad-trademark-bans-yellow-multimeter-imports/) - [The $12 “Gongkai” Phone](https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?page_id=3107) - [Kinect Hacking Case](https://blog.adafruit.com/2010/11/04/the-open-kinect-project-the-ok-prize-get-1000-bounty-for-kinect-for-xbox-360-open-source-drivers/) ### Randoms Thoughts - [Protocols vs Platforms](https://knightcolumbia.org/content/protocols-not-platforms-a-technological-approach-to-free-speech) - [Open Source Synth Creator Interview](https://www.synthtopia.com/content/2018/01/22/open-source-synthesis-behind-the-scenes-with-vcv-rack-creator-andrew-belt/) - [On #Cryptoart](https://memoakten.medium.com/the-unreasonable-ecological-cost-of-cryptoart-2221d3eb2053) - [Brute-Forced Copyrighting: Liberating all the melodies](https://hackaday.com/2020/03/05/brute-forced-copyrighting-liberating-all-the-melodies/)