FAQ Entry #511

This is a respond to a previously asked question about the A' Design Award and Competition. The full list of frequently asked questions can be accessed here.

#511: Is my design protected by copyrights?

Copyright laws regulate how your work could be copied. Copyright laws also regulate how your work could be altered, sampled, modified and adapted to create new work. Copyright laws usually cover personally expressed artistic creation; that is usually music, art works, illustration, painting, sculpture, photography, literature. In most cases, copyright laws does not cover industrial design unless you can prove the industrial design work is unique and artistic in its nature. Ideas and facts cannot be copyright protected, but documentation of ideas or explaining facts in your own style could be copyrighted; because there would be personal artistic expression, still your idea or any facts would not be copyright protected. Patents on the other hand could cover and potentially protect industrial designs for a period of time.Please kindly note that this shall not be considered a legal advice, and we do not claim any responsibility for the accuracy of information contained within. Please always consult a lawyer for accurate and up to date information.

Keywords: copyright, patent, copyrights, patents, copy right, intellectual property. legal

The following questions could be related:

• #60: Do I need to have a patented, labelled, trademarked or registered product, design or idea to participate in the competition?
• #61: Can I join with my patented, registered, trademarked or labelled products, designs or ideas?
• #134: I am interested in joining the Design competition, but I do not have the copyrights or patents regarding my idea/design. I would like to know if I am eligible without them. If I apply without a patent, what could ensure that my idea/design is secure, how can I protect my design/idea.
• #156: Concerning the privacy and publishing settings I am not quite sure which option to go for. I have no patent for my product, yet if I should be a winner then I would be most interested in having my design published and sent to the press. If my design is seen in various media after I have filed for a patent then I would be more reassured. However, if press release takes place when no measures have been taken to obtain a patent, then this would be risky.
• #157: I have my brand or logo patented in my country only. If I were to show this logo in publications, would this be detrimental to the continued existence of my brand, since it will be exposed at an international level where I have no protection. Would an additional copyright covering 164 countries help ?
• #188: Is it safe for me to submit designs that I do not yet have patents on?
• #199: I have an approved patent for my design, can I still join the design competition?
• #226: Will my award winning entry publicly visible? Can I patent it after results announced?
• #286: I would like to know who will have the patent of designed product. will it belong to winner or your committee?
• #309: Will the intellectual property rights of the designer be protected as a result of the submission of the design?
• #340: I have submitted my design. But I haven't got a patent yet. Is it safe (my design will not be stolen) if I submit my design? If there is a risk for me losing the patent of my design, I might think again before joining the competition?
• #341: Can I join the design award competition without a patent?
• #413: Do I still remain the sole owner of the copyright to my works, if I nominate my work to the competition?
• #456: I have an award winning work, will the design award cover the cost of my international patent application?
• #509: What are the difference between patents and copyright for the costs and duration?
• #510: Can I take someone else photo or design and use in my design or work?
• #524: How long will the results of the A' Design Award be kept confidential?
• #534: Is there risk of publishing my design online from the perspective of copyrights and patents?

If you did not find your answer, please feel free to check the faq pages for more questions and answers. You will also want to check our webpage for details; thanks to our transparency policy, we document and publish everything.