Articles
Granola
Sharon Givoni Consulting Food Law, Intellectual Property, Trade marks
Ordinary language or protected trade mark – are you doing the right thing? There is a famous quote that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. True as that might be – this is the last thing you want when it comes to your own brand. We use phrases all the time and don’t think […]
‘Legal’ Battle of the Bulge
Sharon Givoni Consulting Food Law
In this article Sharon Givoni considers whether food companies may one day need to place “fat warnings” on their packaging and some overseas cases where people literally took “fat to court”. Today, with all the health and nutrition information required on packaging, health warnings are probably unlikely. Read more…
Inspiration vs Perspiration – The Basics of Copyright with Sharon Givoni
Sharon Givoni Consulting Street art
Copyright protection springs to life once a work is created and reduced to some sort of tangible form. In Australia, you are not required to register it nor do you have to use the “©” symbol to be protected. It protects a range of works such as performances, paintings, photographs, sound recordings, works of artistic […]
Preventing Copycats: Weaving Through the Legals
Sharon Givoni Consulting Arts and design
Imagine you come up with a great new pattern for curtain fabric that strikes a chord with consumers, a window shutter design or a special weave that flies off the shelves. What if you find out someone is copying you? Have you protected your IP? Can you stop them? How? This article considers how you […]
Street and Photography
Sharon Givoni Consulting Photography
Intellectual property lawyer, Sharon Givoni works with professional photographers. While many of her cases involve the photographer taking legal action, they can also easily find themselves as the defendant. One example is when photographing street art. Sometimes copyright law can prevent you from taking photos of street art if the effect of this means that […]
Protecting What’s Special
Sharon Givoni Consulting Protecting ideas
Most of us will have great business ideas from time to time. The challenge is how you can stop others from using them and slavishly copying them …. This article considers the law of confidential information and how you can protect that in Australia. It also considers the importance of registering unique trade marks and […]
Legally Speaking: Street Art (Part 2)
Sharon Givoni Consulting Street art
Did you know that you could infringe copyright in a painting if it features in the background of a photograph which is used for commercial purposes? Yes, true. The same applies to street art and even graffiti. If you reproduce an image of it in a book, newspaper, magazine or online that could actually breach […]
Legally Speaking: Street Art (Part 1)
Sharon Givoni Consulting Street art
Street art has gained credibility as a legitimate way for artists to communicate their works to the public outside of the confines of the mainstream art world. However, as it has increased in popularity, so has copying. Sometimes businesses forget (or do not realise) that street art – just like any other art – is […]
Copyright and the Internet – busting some myths
Sharon Givoni Consulting Internet Law
In Cyberspace, once your illustrations are posted online you lose a certain degree of control. As a lawyer, I often see the same issues arise. For example, people ask about the ten per cent rule and also whether if they post a copy of their drawing it themselves they are protected. Misconceptions about the use of […]
Unpicking the Threads
Sharon Givoni Consulting Retail and fashion Law
Textile companies or designers may be surprised to learn that, if you apply a three-dimensional element to your fabric, such as an embroidered or woven element, you could lose the benefit of copyright protection altogether. This article canvasses copyright and designs in the context of textiles. Read more… Kindly reposted with the permission of ATF […]