Copyright and intellectual property disputes are a fact of life in the creative world. Battles over “who came up with the idea first” are as old as the hills. Most of these disputes occur behind the scenes and are mutually settled with no fuss. Others become acrimonious and are taken to court where they are resolved in dry legalese. A rare few, often involving celebrities, capture the public imagination and spill over into the public domain, like the famous David Bowie/Queen vs. Vanilla Ice battle over Mr Ice’s un-credited sampling of the song “Under Pressure” in the early 1990s.
As a centre of creativity and design, Hong Kong’s creators face the same issues as those in other parts of the world. As creative professionals, our duty is to protect our own ideas, ensure we respect the ideas of others and commit to learning lessons in order to promote best practices.
Protect: Every creative person has had the unfortunate experience of losing a pitch and then discovering that the client used a significant portion of their creative concept in their final production. Our response may be to play “ostrich” and stick our heads in the sand to avoid losing future opportunities with the client. But it is possible and preferable to prepare for this possibility in advance. How? First, put a clear copyright footer on all proposal submissions. Second, don’t go into too much detail on specific ideas in written proposals or correspondence. Instead, cover this verbally during your pitch. Third, if it is essential to submit ideas, then ask the client to sign an NDA first. These suggestions may not guarantee that your ideas will not be stolen, but they will act as a solid gatekeeper.
Respect: Hong Kong is a small, crowded city. We may not like each other all of the time, but the reason our society works is that almost everyone plays by the rules. One unwritten rule in the creative world is to respect others’ originality. Violation of this rule often results in an immediate and overwhelming backlash in the form of a tsunami of rumours, accusations and slander which washes over the perceived perpetrator faster than they can imagine. The larger the “disrespect”, the greater the harm. So beware: what often starts as a cost-saving measure may end up costing a person or a company their career or reputation.
Learn: While it is tempting to take sides in a dispute, the next time a public copyright crisis occurs, sit back and observe how both parties respond. Watch how they use the media. Pay attention to how they leverage the drama to their advantage or their detriment. Watch how the general public responds. Then use this lesson to develop a set of rules and guidelines for your company to use if you ever find yourselves in a similar situation.
Remember: Protect, respect, learn. Follow these steps and you will keep your intellectual property safe, play by the rules and learn how to weather a crisis and come out intact.
