Reasoning of Law

During my interview with Ms. Lee I realized something about the law. It is not black and white, it is very, very gray. Almost every question I asked was followed with "we'll it depends." I thought my questions should have easy to answer and straight forward but the littlest detail makes a huge difference in a case. I was asked after almost every question to explain more about the details of the situation. The issue of using a model found online was complicated because it depended on if the creator if the base model put it up online on purpose. Was it stolen from him and put up online? How much different is the new model different from the original? The final answer she gave was that if the model was put up with the intention for others to use then the the creator of the base model has no claim on the work if the other persons creation. Other questions I asked she easily answered like if my logos and graphic designs are protected in other countries. The International trademark registration is available through the Worl Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), but in order to be eligible for international registration, the trademark must first be filed with a member country's trademark office. "Copyright does not protect ideas or facts; it protects the unique way in which ideas or facts are expressed" (Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Page 196). On the question about the company having ownership of personal projects while being employed by them. She says depends on what the contract says. Contracts can claim complete ownership of projects including personal projects made at home. And they are pefectly legal because you agreed to the terms. If you would want to remove that then you would have to negotiate on possibly a reduced salary for ownership of design made outside of work. On the question of watermarking my work she said if is placed in the center of the piece and it covers a large area then it will help, but it isn't too difficult to remove and wants it is changed a little they have room to defend themselves. "Trademark law consists of the legal rules by which businesses protect the names, logos, and other commercial signifiers used to identify their products and services.”(Patent, Copyright, and Trademark. Page 379). There's a blurry line between infringement and inspiration and if the court feels enough was changed to determine that the design was inspired by the original and doesn't exactly copy it then there is nothing you can do. The best advice she said is that limiting who you ago these designs to will limit the chance of theft.