10 April

Copyright for designers – why do they miss out?

In September 2013, the Australian Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP) released the Review of the Designs System Issues Paper and called for submissions from the public as to the workability or not of the current designs system. 

Of particular importance for Arts Law is that artists and designers may be being unfairly penalised because of the current copyright and designs overlap provisions limiting protection for registrable designs under the Copyright Act. 

In the Jan/Feb edition of the LexisNexis Australian Intellectual Property Law Bulletin, Arts Law solicitor, Anika Valenti, and Arts Law intern, Tom Hakkinen, discuss the need for review of the designs system in light of the international trend towards joint protection under both the copyright and design law and advances in manufacturing technology: "Copyright for designers – why do they miss out?"

For more information about ACIP's Review of the Designs System inquiry see here. Arts Law's submission in response to the Issues Paper can be seen here.