JOINIntellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.
IP is protected in law by patent, copyright, and trademark law. These laws enable people to earn recognition and/or financial benefit from what they invent or create.
The IP system aims to foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish by striking a balance between the interests of creators and the public.
Copyright law
Copyright law (sometimes referred to as authors’ rights in continental legal regimes) is a legal discipline that describes the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works.
Works covered by copyright range from books, journals, articles, music, paintings, sculpture, and films, to computer programs, maps, and technical drawings. The selection and arrangement of data may also be eligible for copyright protection.
Copyright law is the mechanism through which publishing houses are able to manage the content they own and license, and the bundle of rights can be divvied to achieve an appropriate balance of protection (e.g., so that publishers can recover their investment), openness (e.g., for public access), and responsible stewardship of the scientific record (e.g., by enabling right holders to pursue legal remedies for pirated and compromised content.
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VIEW ALL NEWSNew this year: Research Integrity Workshops added to I&I Days lineup
We’re excited to introduce a new element to this year’s Innovation & Integrity Days program: a series of expert-led Research Integrity workshops, debuting on 9 December during the afternoon of the STM Innovator Fair. This addition comes in direct response to feedback from recent attendees looking for more applied, research-integrity-focused learning ahead of STM Research Integrity Day (10 December). These optional interactive…
EU Commission launches public consultation on ERA Act
The European Commission is gathering stakeholder feedback on the upcoming European Research Area (ERA) Act, expected for Q3 2026, through a questionnaire open until 5 January 2026. Questions related to OA mandates and rights retention strategies are included under the section ‘Free circulation of scientific knowledge’, including the option ‘the applicable legal frameworks should be reviewed to improve legal…
EU Commission’s work programme for 2026
The work programme of the EU Commission provides an overview of all that the institution will be working on in the coming year. For example, the ERA Act is included under ‘New initiatives’. Besides what was inserted in the programme, it is also interesting to note that, despite the evaluation of the Copyright Directive of 2019 being planned for next year,…
Australian government decides against introducing a TDM exception to copyright
The Australian government decided not to proceed with a text and data mining (TDM) exception to facilitate AI training. Such a recommendation was included in an interim report by the Productivity Commission over the summer, and may still be included in the final report due in December. The Copyright & AI Reference Group (CAIRG) has also been reactivated…