IP rights and their importance in the Creative Industries.

What is IP?

Intellectual Property - (IP) is an abstract concept that is difficult to define in exact terms without drawing on any legal documents.
In legal terms Intellectual Property pertains to the protection of one's ideas based on the fact that you created them and they are therefore yours. However it was not always this way, nor was it intended to be this way. The original idea goes back to an early time in the USA's development.

The Copyright Act of 1790 and the Patent Act of 1790 were introduced to protect an inventor from becoming out competed once they released their invention. This would happen because they would spend the money on developing something and then it would go into production, this left the original creator open to someone else coming in to sell it at a lower price because they would not have to spend the money on development. Inventing something first was never profitable.

Figure 1 - https://www.copyright.gov/about/images/1790_First_US_Copyright_Law_P1_8.jpg

To counter this the Copyright and Patent acts were introduced to stop others producing something that was invented for a limited time to allow the development cost to be recouped. The idea was that by introducing these laws more people would be encouraged to create and invent and this would benefit the whole of society
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Over the years however, these laws have changed their scope and priority. It has become more about protecting and creating a monopoly on products and markets, more about stopping younger and more innovative companies out competing others and less about stimulating creation for the greater whole. Many big companies hold copyrights that extend into the far future that make it prohibitive for other companies to develop new products in their field. They also can't create similar ideas. While derivative work for the most part is now accepted and protected, trying to innovate an old idea can be seen as stealing IP in the laws eyes. Laws are intentionally written to be as vague as possible so that the law will allow them to extend the definition of what can be protected. Getting too close to an idea will result in a person or company being sued over the matter. The problem is that companies don't know what close means.

How import is IP within Games Technology?

It can be argued that the protection provided by these laws does well to protect vulnerable creators from being ravaged and picked apart by anyone who felt like copying their work and it can be seen as Western values shining through in our modern legal system as we respect individuality.
The law has evolved over the years and moved away from this original concept. Now it protects these ideas with fervour rather than with temperance. Many acts have followed that affect IP such as the Intellectual Property Act 2014 which is a very modern interpretation of IP as compared to the much older and differently intended laws.

Figure 2 - http://www.jordaniplaw.com/images/photos/home-2.jpg

Does it stifle creativity in the creative industries?

Games technology is a synergy of software, hardware and a constant stream of new ideas mixed with the old. It is a dangerous minefield that must be expertly navigated to be sure that you will not be sued over anything. Seemingly trivial matters can still stop a game's development. This doesn't even take into account the massively increased development time over any new idea as the creators themselves try to slalom through the IP maze and avoid the halting of development. Creativity can be stifled if the creator constantly has to stop and wonder if their idea already exists, causing stress upon realising their works may infringe upon some existing IP.