6.2 Intellectual property

"intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce".

In Australia, the Copyright Act 1968 governs the use of certain forms of intellectual property including:

• artistic works: e.g. paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, architectural models
• dramatic works: e.g. plays, film scripts, choreography
• literary works: e.g. journal articles, computer programs, poems, song lyrics, novels, tables of statistics
• musical works: e.g. compositions
• television and radio broadcasts
• cinematograph films
• sound recordings.

Copyright protects the way ideas and information are expressed, not the idea or information itself (Australian Copyright Council, 2008).²  In Australia, inventions (patents), trademarks, and industrial designs are protected by other areas of law such as the Patents Act 1990 and the Designs Act 1906.

¹ World Intellectual Property Organization. (n.d). About Intellectual Property. Retrieved February 17, 2006, from http://www.wipo.int/about-wipo/en/
² Australian Copyright Council. (2008). Ideas: legal protection. Retrieved July 15, 2009, from http://www.copyright.org.au/publications/g015.pdf