Kaneda Copyright Agency {top}

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Copyright FAQ {top}

{FAQ} What is “intellectual property”?

The copyright system, or the copyright legislation is part of the body of laws known as “intellectual property law,” which protects the interests of creators by giving them certain property rights over their creations. These rights of property are widely accepted under the laws of most countries in order to stimulate human intellectual creativity and to make the fruits of such creativity available to the public. Also, a concerted approach to intellectual property rights allows international trade in goods and services protected by such rights to flourish on the basis of a smoothly functioning system of harmonized national laws.

Nowadays, the term (expression) of “intellectual property (right)” is used increasingly broadly so as to refer to all creations of the human mind. For example, article 2 (viii) of the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization does not define intellectual property as such, but gives the following list of the subject matter protected by intellectual property rights: literary, artistic and scientific works; performances of performing artists, phonograms, and broadcasts; inventions in all fields of human endeavor; scientific discoveries; industrial designs; trademarks, service marks, and commercial names and designations; protection against unfair competition; and “all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields.”

The most direct source of protection for intellectual property is respective national laws. Other sources include legal instruments of multilateral agreements, such as the Berne Convention and the Agreement on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement).