It was not until the 19th to 20th centuries that intellectual property law was accepted globally. Intellectual property refers to exclusive rights either to an individual or a company to protect their innovations, such as artistic works. This means that no other person can copy their creation, which is punishable by the law. Intellectual property rights come in trademarks, patents, copyrights, and trade secrets. Although these rights last for a limited period, the owner enjoys maximum benefits by increasing the market value of one’s products through that exclusivity; one can enjoy unparalleled profits thanks to their creativity. The intellectual property rights law has brought about the needs of both the creator and the consumer.
Intellectual property rights have come as an advantage to all entrepreneurs, whether huge or small. In the case of Vicky Talley, the violation of intellectual property laws has taken place because she used materials that could have been copyrighted without permission or by referencing the author of the creative content. Intellectual property is protected by the copyright, designs, and patent act 1988 which aims at securing the original content of individuals from being copied without permission (Mansfield, 2019). Her claim that everything on the Internet is free for people to use is invalid because intellectual property law applies to internet sources as well (Mansfield, 2019). Moreover, the fair use doctrine does not include the use of copyrighted materials for commercial use, which is the case for Vicky Talley.
References
Mansfield, E. (2019). Intellectual property, technology and economic growth. In Intellectual property rights in science, technology, and economic performance (pp. 17-30). Routledge.
Srivastava, A. (2020). Nature and formation of contract. In Modern law of international trade (pp. 81-107). Springer, Singapore.
Stewart, G. L., & Brown, K. G. (2019). Human resource management. John Wiley & Sons.
Twomey, D.P. Jennings, M. M., & Greene, S. M. (2017). Anderson’s business law and the legal environment, comprehensive volume (23rd ed.) Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.