{"id":5457,"date":"2019-05-14T12:20:59","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T12:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.riaabarkergillette.com\/uk\/?p=5457"},"modified":"2024-11-19T19:16:26","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T19:16:26","slug":"copyright-in-a-digital-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.riaabarkergillette.com\/uk\/copyright-in-a-digital-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Copyright in a digital age"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So, what is copyright?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Copyright is a form of intellectual property (IP) that protects the use of an original and tangible work. This means that ideas must take a physical form (such as a painting or a recorded song) before they can be copyrighted. Copyright generally covers literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works (including images and photographs) and things like sound recordings, films and broadcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also become an increasingly inextricable part of our day-to-day life online, resulting in the need for a shift in the IP landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s talk about memes<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Whether we use them to express how we feel or simply to illustrate a point, creative digital assets like memes, GIFs and emojis have become a language in their own right. Given that they\u2019re so prevalent, you might wonder how they could possibly be subjected to copyright law. However, under the approved wording of Article 13 of the EU\u2019s Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market<\/a>, a \u2018meme ban\u2019 could be in the offing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 13, as it stands, will force internet platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter (amongst others) to install \u2018appropriate and proportionate content-recognition technologies\u2019 to screen and block user-generated content which is flagged as subject to copyright. If kept in place, the new directive will effectively ban the existing process of creating and uploading memes, which is driven by the ability to edit a pre-existing image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And emojis?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Though the abstract ideas and emotions behind them \u2013 like \u2018happy\u2019 and \u2018sad\u2019 \u2013 can\u2019t be copyrighted, emojis themselves are considered \u2018pictorial, graphic and sculptural works\u2019 and, consequently, qualify for protection. In fact, many companies have been granted copyright for their unique versions of emojis, with some, such as Google and Twitter, opting to license them openly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n