How to Make a Living in the Creative Industries
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WIPO, 2017 World Intellectual Property Organization 34, chemin des Colombettes, P.O. Box 18 CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO) When content published by WIPO, such as images, graphics, trademarks or logos, is attributed to a thirdparty, the user of such content is solely responsible for clearing the rights with the right holder(s). To view a copy of this license, please visit https://creativecommons/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ Printed in Switzerland
This booklet was written by BOP Consulting on behalf of the World Intellectual Property Organization. BOP is an international consultancy specializing in culture and the creative economy. Established for 20 years, it is a leading authority on mapping and evaluating the socio-economic impact of the cultural and creative industries.
Table of contents
1. Introduction 2. What is copyright and why does it matter 3. Protecting and exploiting your rights
What rights do you own Exploiting your rights Identifying yourself as the rights holder Licensing and assignment Protecting your copyright
4 4 5
6 6 67
4. The creative industries
Definingthecreativeindustries Diversity of the creative industries8 9 9
What is the global value of the creative industries Employment in the creative industries Copyright in the digital age
10 10
5.HowdodifferentcreativesectorsuseIP
Advertising Music Film and television Publishing13 13Video games
Monetization of copyright assets by creative enterprises Managing creative enterprises
15 15 166. Final remarks 7. Additional reading
16 17
1. Introduction
Making a living in the creative industries means many different things to different people. For some it represents an ideal of creative freedom, for others a business strategy. Individual motivations and roles are as varied as the activities that make up the creative industries a sector that includes a range of activities from architecture to production of video games. Whatever creative industry role interests you, and whatever your motivation, intellectual property (IP) is crucial. This booklet explains why. It has been produced by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the global forum for IP services, policy, information and cooperation, and it is aimed at people who already work in the cultural and creative industries or who may be contemplating a career in them, as well as policymakers, academics and business support agencies working in the field. This booklet explains simply and clearly how copyright helps creative people to earn money from their original works. It has been written to be accessible to nonspecialists or newcomers to the subject of copyright and intellectual property rights. If you want more detail, this booklet also lists some useful websites and introduces some other WIPO publications that offer more insight into the role of IP within particular subsectors of the creative industries.
2. What is copyright and why does it matter
Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. The creators of those works can protect them and control their use. Copyright, design rights, patents and registered trademarks are all recognized ways for creatives to secure their rights. Copyright is particularly important for the creative industries. It protects the creative or artistic expression of an idea, not the idea itself. Copyright law allows the owner of the rights in literary or artistic works to control how those works are used. The copyright owner has the exclusive right to use or lend the work or to permit others to reproduce or adapt the work for commercial gain. Copyright protects every original work, regardless of its literary or artistic merit. The creativity, skill and talent of literary and artistic creators is also their main means of creating wealth and jobs. By compensating and rewarding creators' effort and creativity, copyright acts as an incentive to continue to create new work. By striking the right balance between the interests of creators and the wider public interest, copyright law aims to foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish. This booklet looks at the different ways in which copyright can help all kinds of creative individuals make a living from their original literary and artistic works.In addition to copyright there are other intellectual property rights that relate to specific areas of art: Design rights protect the unique shape, configuration, color or composition of 2D and 3D designs. Patents apply to the technological invention or innovation behind an idea, rather than its inclusion in an original creative work. Trademarks reflect brand value and can be registered in relation to particular products or services. They include:business names, logos, product names and other signs;distinctive packaging;graphic symbols, screen displays, graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and web pages; andslogans and sounds. Trade secrets are confidential business information which in some countries provides an enterprise with a competitive edge. Artists, authors, designers, musicians and other creators all rely to a greater or lesser extent on the commercial exploitation of IP. Together, these individuals and companies and their IP rights make up the creative industries.
3. Protecting and exploiting your rights
What rights do you own in your work How can you ensure that you are identified as its creator What does it mean to exploit a literary or artistic work What does protection mean Irrespective of which creative sector you work in, there are four main steps to managing your IP: Understand what rights you own in your original work. Ensure that you have taken all necessary steps to identify yourself as the creator and rights holder. Put in place a plan for the exploitation of your IP, including consideration of licensing and assignment of your rights and appointment of agents to represent you and your work where this is likely to produce the best return. In the event that someone infringes your intellectual property rights, you need to understand what steps you can take to make them stop and what kind of compensation you can get. Depending on the nature of the breach, and the attitude of the other party, that may be as straightforward as writing a letter to ask them to desist, or agreeing a licensing fee or royalty. In other cases, it may result in more formal action requiring specialist legal advice. You should be aware of the various options available to you, and their cost, before taking your work to market.What rights do you own Copyright is not a single right. It allows the holder to do a number of things, including: prevent others from making copies of the work; make and distribute copies of protected works; authorize live and recorded performances; broadcast the work; communicate it to the public, including making work available online and on demand; rent or lend physical or digital copies of the work; modify a work, or permit others to modify it, to create a new work in another art form (e.g., adapt a novel into a film); and authorize the publication of a translation. This is not an exhaustive list. These and other forms of intellectual property rights that can be transferred to others, by licensing or assignment, for financial gain are known as economic rights. Copyright also includes rights that stay with the creator and are not transferable. These are known as moral rights, and generally there are two types:
Identifying yourself as the rights holder Under the terms of the Berne Convention, the first international treaty on copyright, creators do not need to formally register works in order to benefit from copyright protection; rather, copyright exists automatically as soon as the work i