2. IP with automatic protection or no protection
- Automatically protected IP
- Duration of protection
- Assert your ownership
- Works with no copyright protection
Automatically protected IP
These types of IP are automatically protected for a certain duration:
- Copyright
- Trade secrets
- Circuit layouts.
Check which types of IP have automatic protection
Duration of protection
The duration of protection depends on the type of IP.
Copyright
In Australia, “copyright for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works generally lasts 70 years from the year of the author’s death or 70 years from the year of first publication after the author’s death. Copyright for films and sound recordings lasts 70 years from their publication or 70 years from the year in which they were broadcast.” – IP Australia.
The Australian Copyright Council has a fact sheet explaining the duration of copyright in detail.
Trade secrets
Trade secrets don’t have a limit on the length of protection. It is up to the owner of the trade secret to keep it a secret.
Circuit layouts
IP Australia explains that a circuit layout’s “maximum possible protection period is 20 years”.
Assert your ownership
You do not need to register to protect your rights for these types of IP but you can still take steps to assert your ownership.
It is not necessary but adding a copyright notice (a “C” enclosed in a circle), followed by your name and date is a reminder to others that the work is owned by someone and may help you prove your ownership for example, if you are sharing the work online.
Copyright statement example
An example of a copyright statement that can be applied to a work is:
© The University of Queensland 2023.
Protecting your copyright, from the Australian Copyright Council, recommends:
- Keeping dated copies of material, such as recordings, documents, images
- Keeping copies of communication with people who have access to the work
- Any agreements about copyright are in writing, not just verbal.
For trade secrets, IP Australia recommends the use of confidentiality agreements for employees and others, to protect the knowledge.
If you are commissioning creative works, then the ownership of IP should be considered and included in the terms and conditions of the contract.
Works with no copyright protection
Some works might not meet the requirements to receive copyright protection. These include:
- Data sets – The data within a set is considered fact and is not able to be copyrighted. The formatting of the data within the set and the formatting of any graphs or tables could be copyrightable.
- Screenshots
- Photographs of existing works
- Single words – These might be able to be trademarked.
- Works created by non-humans. This includes content created by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
- The Complex World of Style, Copyright and Generative AI blog discusses some of the issues around copying works to train AI and whether that should be considered copyright infringement.
Using screenshots
While screenshots themselves aren’t copyrightable, the underlying content in the screenshot is subject to copyright. If you want to publish a screenshot on a video, social media post or other web content you should check the copyright owner’s terms of use or get their written permission first.
Examples of terms of use:
- Microsoft’s Use of Microsoft copyrighted content grants permission to use screenshots of certain content only and lists a number of requirements for allowed use.
- Nintendo’s Game Content Guidelines for Online Video & Image Sharing Platforms states that they do not object to the sharing of footage or screenshots from Nintendo games subject to certain rules, including that it must include “creative input and commentary”.
