Week 3 Activity Workshop Reflection

We had a sharing session with lawyers whereby they explain us about the various IP and Copywriting laws. I always knew I had to check it out someday since I was planning to work on my own studio someday. In fact, when we had the session there was just so much drastic policies that we had to be aware of as creators. I believe the main lesson here was that with the growing technological age we had to make sure we’re educated in as much fields as we can.

A few things that I found very interesting during the sharing was the various case studies we were showed. And they also had a form of critical thinking behind these cases, such as how in some cases the brand just started the case to gain attention. I believe it’s something we can see in the music industry as well, when musician claim that another stole their riffs or melody. The news always blows the media and obviously it’s a form of publicity.

Another interesting thing I would say was the length of such debates. According to lawyer, she explains how a case takes an average of 2 to 5 years. However, there are cases that went over 30 years involving the big brands, which is quite mind-blowing.

One thing that I didn’t like however is how when we are doing someone’s commission we the creators don’t have the rights over the design. The owner and creator policy they call it. We were given a solution, to sign a contract with the commissioner to state our rights over the design before executing it but still, it’s an additional step that might cause more issues in the future if the client doesn’t agree and we have to review everything.

But on the other hand it gave me a lot of knowledge on what I need to expect in the skin of a creator in the professional world. Furthermore, I also get to know how to use the rules for my own projects.