Slashdot Mirror
Imperial Storm Troopers Skirmish in Latest IP Battle
fm6 writes "According to guardian.co.uk, George Lucas is suing the designer of the Imperial Stormtrooper armor. Andrew Ainsworth took the original molds he used to make the props for the movies, and has been using them to make outfits that sell for up to £1,800 (US$3,600) apiece. Ainsworth has countersued for a share of the $12 billion that Star Wars merchandise has generated since the first movie."
A spokesman for Lucas Licensing said: "We would never want to discourage fans from showcasing their enthusiasm for the movies. However, anyone who tried to profit from using our copyrights and trademarks without authorisation ... we will go after them."
This guy made one of the really cool things about Star Wars!! We all see the sort of nonsense Lucas came up with without this guy :-( Nothing in the newer 3 movies was there anything as memorable as Stormtroopers. Am I wrong??
TFA doesn't really say anything about the details of the original contract, but it seems ridiculous for someone with the money of God to come after a little guy who did so much to make his movies distinctive.
Careful What You Wish For....
when you can just use a RepRap?
The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
does it cost to get a girl with a suit like this: http://webzoom.freewebs.com/basementnightclub/Stormtrooper%20Bride.jpg
;)
Slashdot ya no es que lo era!
I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further.
He was hired to do a job. He created the items to fit Lucas' vision. It wasn't as if he created them and them sold them to Lucas. Did he negotiate for a piece of the profits then? No, he took a straight payment.
Kaiser Wilhelm II is suing them both for use of the term "Stormtrooper".
I'm sorry, did you even read the summary?
...not the other way around.
RTFA: A california court ruled in favor or Lucasfilms, but since the designer lives in the UK, Lucasfilms has to sue there. Good luck getting a UK court to go along with the same tort bullshit the US passes off as civil law/justice.
If the contract signs over all work to Lucas Film, this guy may be in a bit of a bind. If it doesn't, Lucas Film is in a bind.
I bet you two different contracts are presented.
Logical mode off: Its a goddamn Storm Trooper Costume! He was making them for 3k! You make millions of dollars! Go home!
That's a bit too cynical. We don't have all the information here. If Lucas went hired Ainsworth and told him what he wanted and Ainsworth developed the detailed design and the molds, then the basic idea was Lucas's and the design was a work for hire, the rights to which belong to Lucas. It's just like when an engineer designs a chip for Intel - the design belongs to Intel, not the engineer.
It is possible that the arrangment was different, e.g. that the designer came up with the design and offered it to Lucas, in which case the rights would depend on what sort of contract they entered into (that is, whether Ainsworth merely licensed Lucas to use the design or whether he sold the rights outright), but the fact that a court has already ruled in Lucas' favor suggests a scenario like the one above. If so, it isn't a case of the courts screwing the little guy - it is a standard case of work for hire.
Seems the Emperor has a problem when the clones are not under his control.....
I've watched documentaries and read books about Star Wars... one of the genius moves Lucas made was to make the studios sign away all the merchandising rights to him. This was before merchandising was a big thing (Lucas helped make it big!).
The question is is do those clauses extend to sold props and replicas of props...? IANAL so don't ask me.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
So, let me make sure I have this straight....
The Imperial Stormtrooper armour is *not* suing the designer of George Lucas?
emt 377 emt 4
... for the Special Edition lawsuit, where Andrew sues first.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
So you do work creating IP for people and then refuse to give them the rights to the IP that you create? Let me know how that works out for you.
I think you will find that the majority of companies who get design work done by independent contractors would have watertight agreements transferring all of the relevant intellectual property to them, for obvious reasons, i.e., that people like you can't then attempt to weasel around their rights with dubious contractual terms and thereby hold them hostage.
Honestly, I am generally all in favour of limiting the IP rights of companies, but when you do work for a business creating IP and then try to suggest that it's somehow reasonable and equitable that you retain the rights to all of the "original art work" that goes into it then you are being borderline dishonest. Certainly it's reasonable for you to retain IP you create which is not specific to that job; but it would be entirely unreasonable to refuse to relinquish the rights to the 99% finished "work in progress" version of a website, for instance.
The Windows example is silly, because Windows is not uniquely crafted to each user's requirements (if only), it is a generic piece of IP that is licensed and relicensed.
Read Pynchon.
as if a million lawyers filed suit at once, and were enriched.
That's not really IP. It's an actual, physical mould making actual physical objects. This is barely about the stormtrooper image itself.
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
In any case, the article makes it appear that Lucas just bought several dozen of the costumes, and did not in fact commission the design nor purchase the rights. OTOH, the designer sold the costumes knowing full well what they were to be used for.If this is hte fact pattern, then Lucas asking for money would be like UA asking BMW to pay a royalty for right to produce cars.
In the end I hope that Lucas has to pay a gob of cash for wasting the time of court to satisfy his greed.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
It would be extremely unusual for a costume designer (or art department, or set designer, or special effects model builder or whatever) to work for anything but "for hire" or to be able to claim any ownership of their work afterwards. Since this was the 70's and Star Wars was not expected to be the blockbuster hit most likely the guy did the work for a few thousand bucks. There could always be exceptions, like HR Giger, but that's extremely rare and only when the guy's a big name already and can call his own shots.
Still, even if this is the case, I don't think he got screwed by not making millions for his designs. I mean, that's the nature of the job, and these productions would collapse under their own weight if everyone who has any input could claim a piece of ownership.
That said this kind of thing isn't all that unusual-- costume makers selling replicas of their designs to fans. I guess it's a little different to be selling molded stormtrooper armor instead of a copy of Galadriel's gown, but still, it's generally accepted as a perk that they can make a little side business out of it, assuming the products are custom orders and not mass produced for costume shops.
So Lucas is probably in the right, legally, but a complete dick morally. Big surprise.
It will depend who did the design. The copyright will rest with whoever did the design and cannot be transferred without an explicit writing to that effect. (eg a copyright transfer or a work for hire agreement in the contract.) Simple enough if one party did the design and can prove it. What if there was a degree of cooperation with elements coming from both sides?
Ah well, in any case it is likely to be a big win for the lawyers
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Well, I think its a given who is claiming that.
Its certainly possible this is the case, and 30 years passed might make it more difficult to prove even if they it did exist. But having said that I find it highly improbable that so much money changed hands without a contract.
Lucas bought the suits. The suits, not the designs, and certaintly not the rights to the designs.
Imagine if this prop guy wins. He has a LOT of past royalties he could potentially collect on - movie posters, action figures, the movies themselves, the three or ten versions of the movie on VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray that already exist and the next dozen or so that will be released in the ensuing decade.
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
Even if THAT were the case (which is probably isn't), Ainsworth would still hold the rights to the design. You need a contract stating that the intellectual property is yours, especially when dealing with foreign nationals.
Er, in reality you have to sign an employment agreement for that to be true, depending on where the agreement is made.
Often wrong but never in doubt.
I am Jack9.
Everyone knows me.
IANAL, but I'm pretty sure Ainsworth's claims of damages going back to 1977 is a textbook case of laches and will probably be dismissed on those grounds.
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
Believe it or not, and even now as well as 30 years ago, quite a bit of business is conducted without formal contracts. And for big dollar amounts. In the UK I can't say for sure, but in most US states, a verbal agreement is binding...but it then boils down to who what to who and when they said it. But as this case points out, its always best to get paper. And that's true even when all parties are "friends"...its amazing how fast money can change that friendship.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
You want fun, go home and buy a monkey!
I've read above that this guy was paid "just" £30,000 for his work. Now, even if that's adjust for inflation and he was paid less than that, I still wouldn't feel sorry for him. If the only thing you put on your resume for the rest of your life is "Designed Storm Troopers Costume", then your career is made! I'm sure he's been reaping the benifits of his work indirectly ever since. Sure, it's not as much as Lucas himself, but he's gotten his share of the pie. He shouldn't be allowed to sell something that's not his, and when he sold the design to Lucas, it stopped being his, end-of-story.
The design wasn't even any good. One blaster shot and they're finshed!
> trademark, yes. copyright, no.
You are correct in saying that you have to defend a trademark but do NOT have to defend a copyright, so I'll add on to that. IANAL, but unless there was a copyright assignment with a 'written memorandum of transfer' (I learned that one from SCO v. Novell; copyright law being federal, it applies to the whole USA), THE COSTUME MAKERS own whatever copyright there could be on the costume. Though I assume that Lucas owns the trademark. True, it could be a 'work for hire', but I think that only applies to individuals working for some company (and it would probably have to be spelled out), so I don't know.
I should also mention that while trademarks have to be defended, you are NOT required by law to be a dick when defending them (even if it seems that way). I think it was Second Life where they sent the "Get a First Life!" people a "Permit & Proceed" letter that let them know they were *okay* with using the trademark.
Lucas? Sounds like he believes he deserves all the money from anything related in any way to Star Wars, even if he did absolutely none of the work in creating it, simply because he came up with Star Wars to begin with.
So yeah, I'm not really going to take either side here, but I just want to say that if they had any sense, they'd come up with some kind of arrangement that doesn't involve suing each other, or there won't be any money left to fight over.
George Lucas is suing the designer of the Imperial Stormtrooper armor. ...not the other way around. You missed the bit where the designer was counter suing.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
I can never un-see that now!
John
This isn't traditional tort, it's copyright/trademark. As the US and UK participate in a number of international IP treaties, there is a good possibility that a UK court would be obligated to respect the decision of the US court. IANAL, some lawyer want to clear that up?
Cue the whining fanboys to cry some more over the prequels.
I bet the Tron Guy is next. Spandex styling will be set back 20 years.
Table-ized A.I.
And here was me thinking that we'd finally run out of IPv4 addresses and that the storm troopers had been deployed to sort the problem out.
All in all, it depends on the contract they signed. If this guy signed away his rights, he's screwed... and if he didn't, he probably has a case.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
This isn't the first frivolous lawsuit he's done lately. He tried to sue the pants off of this warehouse company a year ago or so because he kept his storage facility in bad condition and one of his R2D2 props got moldy.
I don't know the details of it, but my grandmother in law works for a sister company of the warehouse that was getting sued. Apparently it was enough that if it hadn't been dismissed, it would've sent them into immediate bankruptcy.
-Vendal Thornheart
The US has had plenty of time to mutilate it.
:)
Just like how you guys have mutilated the English language.
Of course, this case is hardly a shining example of that last sentence... it's hard to call 30 years "fast" change for a working relationship.
Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
Here's a better analogy.
...
/. ...
King Louis XII hires Galileo to build 50 statues of a Roman Gladiator. The basic idea is King Louis', but the design is the artistic expression of Galileo. Galileo then builds a mold, and makes crushed Marble and concrete statues of his own artistic realization and delivers them to King Louis. Galileo discovers that the statues are a fantastic hit with the royal courtiers, and proceeds to make numerous replicas for sale. Yes, Galileo was hired to make X number of some artform or an artistic design for some artform. Unless, the contract turns over the the rights to that artwork, then the artist is free to make other copies. This is does not on the surface look like a case of work for hire.
Although you are dead on right about we don't know enough details. Depending on how one defines the Imperial Storm Trooper armor, it could be: art, clothing (which can also be a type of art), a design, a purchase of a defined quantity of a product (i.e. 50 helmets for $70 ea). We don't know why the CA court found in Lucas' favor, perhaps it was a default judgment? Perhaps, Lucas produced the copyright, or the contract. We could argue one way or the other till the cows come home, but the simple truth is the stupid reporter neglects to fill us in with the 5Ws, which are so essentially necessary in order to draw any intelligent conclusion
Oh wait this is
Scratch that last comment.
Firstly IANAL etc. Now, if Lucasfilm has the copyright to the Stormtrooper (its a Lucas creation), and Ainsworth patents the Stormtrooper moulds (the Ainsworth creation) ... what happens then?
Now, its especially entertaining when you have Mr Copyright lawyer introduced to Mr Patent lawyer.
The irresistable force meets the immovable object ...
Nahhh, lets not go there.
but the fact that a court has already ruled in Lucas' favor suggests a scenario like the one above.
No offence but it was a US court that ruled on it... a California court.... I think I'll wait to see what another court makes of it before I form an opinion on whether the court screwed this particular "little guy".
BM3
I don't know. I have had a working relationship change in 30 minutes. It involved alcohol and wasn't at the workplace, but she still won't talk to me.
It would appear that Lucas was buying a product, if he had intended to retain the rights to this product why didnt he purchase the molds?
It sounds like Lucasfilm may have screwed up and not gotten a contract. That said where the guy screwed up was using original molds. They are technically the property of Lucasfilm since they paid for them. He may have been in his rights reproducing the design but not using the molds. I used to know John Stears back in the early 80s. He told about Lucas getting him to sign over the rights to R2D2 and the land speeder for the promise of more work. Rights up until then had no value so he opted for the additional work. Well Lucas never hired him again and he figured by that time he had lost 8 mill in licensing fees. Lucas had all the key people sign over all rights after the film was finished. I doubt Lucas can claim that there was prior art since most of the "production" art was actually done after the film was finished so the design probably was his. In truth he should have himself sued decades ago for a cut of the rights but he was a nice guy and didn't. Ironically he probably was within his rights doing that but striking new casts from the old molds he didn't have the right to do. What the court should do is fine him for the amount of props sold and give that money to Lucasfilm but then award him the rights to the design and make Lucas pay him the lost royalties which would amount to 1000X what the suits brought.
And do you think that either Intel or George Lucas is so ignorant as not to know the law of the jurisdiction in which it operates and arrange the necessary agreements? The fact is that it in many industries designs are routinely set up as work for hire so that they will belong to the employer. We don't know whether Lucas did this, but it is quite possible that he did, in which case he owns the rights and there is nothing screwy going on here.
It certainly doesn't stop blasters or light sabers. What use is it?
No sig today...
i'll tell you why, because he's a typical hollywood money grubber. sometimes laws are just plain wrong
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
it's funny because it's true!
i'll be still laughing tomorrow!
Deem and I think always, that those pesky Romans are guilty for cyber crime laws in most european countrys...
...:(
At least i hope my analogy is not far-far away
I might be utterly mistaken, but I was under the impression that the American English was the more conservative branch of the language.
Wouldn't that mean that it is the English who have "mutilated" their own language?
I never apologize. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I am.
Note that this is design right, not copyright. UK law recognizes a difference between the two. Design right applies to the shapes of things.
I'm interested in Mr. Ainsworth's defense. According to the article, he has two claims in his defense. First, "... that the intellectual property rights to the designs have expired." The Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act of 1988 specifies that design right (as distinct from copyright) lasts 15 years from when the design was first recorded or a finished product first made. Since storm troopers appeared in the very first Star Wars in 1977, and had to have been made in 1976 for the filming, I'd say that's a pretty good defense.
The article also says he claims that "if they [the rights] do still exist, as the designer he [Mr. Ainsworth] owns them rather than Mr Lucas." That seems rather more dubious to me. Mr. Ainsworth accepted a payment of 30,000 pounds for his work. Even in the absence of a formal contract, that would strongly suggest that he did it as a commission, in which case ownership of the rights would fall to the commissioner (Mr. Lucas in this case).
It'll be interesting to see how it comes out; and for once we won't have to wait too long, since the case is expected to take ten days.
I have recently set up a one-man-company to do a little consulting. I had to pick a name for the child and it should help me focus on creation and collaboration using computers among people in organisations.
.com so why bother registering that domain. I am located in Denmark so I will not clutter up the bigger namespaces :-).
out came 3cpo...
Am I getting myself into all kind of trouble by choosing that name?
And yes I am not a
"We contract companies to write software for us, but then they retain full ownership of that software."
Generally companies that do that have more than just YOU as a customer. e.g. Game engines, middleware, etc. If your company wants to fund the whole shebang? I doubt anyone has a problem with you retaining all rights. With that all being said, there are companies that put source code in escrow should they go bankrupt, or even some will let you play with the source code. just not distribute it widely. e.g. OSS.
"I have to admit, I find it foolish to enter into such agreements. When I pay for work I expect to receive IP, but such situations clearly do exist. Other people must just not care so much..."
Maybe you should think more carefully about what you're paying for. Paying for it all? No problem. Paying for a piece? Welcome to the mass production business model. You pay a small part of the development costs and everyone gets lower prices and wider availability.
"It means we often don't get to see the source code, and even if we do, we are not permitted to modify it or to get any other company to extend the software, etc."
It just depends on who you are. e.g. US Government, etc and who you're buying from.
I'm no lawyer either, but I did work in IP for a time.
The relevant international "law" would be the Berne Convention and the WTO's TRIPS.
AFAIK copyright infringement is a tort, I'm not sure what you mean by "traditional torte" (sacher maybe?).
There is nothing legal to bind a UK court to any agreement of a US court (though an international court in session in the US would be different). Indeed I'd imagine that the UK court was obligated to ignore a US interpretation of international law and assess according to the standards and practice of law in the UK (and where relevant the EU).
Look, I've never met George Lucas, he may well be a lawsuit-crazy bastard.
...
But do you really think he gets involved in any of this? He just swims in his pool of money and hires honeys to wipe his butt for him. It's his lawyers that do the suing.
He checks that the lawyers are paying their way I'm sure, or rather his accounting team do
Yeah, I know he hires them, but what with the swimming and the butt wiping, etc., I'v sure he doesn't have time to check they're maintaining a reasonable level of ethics.
The two dialects have diverged in different directions in the past couple of centuries and neither is correct". The inhabitants of Tangier Island, Virginia, supposedly speak with a dialect as close to Elizabethian English as exists anywhere in the world. If anybody can say that their English is true, it is these people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIZgw09CG9E
"Just like how you guys have mutilated the English language. :)"
;)
You keep telling yourself that.
If you consider a few changes of "ou" to "o" and some name changes for things like car parks and lifts to be butchering the English language, I wonder how many people you've met with Cockney or Australian accents.
It certainly doesn't stop blasters or light sabers. What use is it?
or rocks, or ewok spears ffs.
but you got to admit, that armor looks l337
why he should receive a part of the $12B in merchandise, Ainsworth's lawyer responded, "Because he's holding a thermal detonator!"
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
George Lucas is the Bill Gates of scifi.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Guys like Lucas and Spielberg sucked the creativity right out of mainstream movies. Back in the 70's, movies like the Godfather could play in a mainstream cinema and even command a big budget. Now those kinds of movies are relegated to the arthouse, with tiny budgets, and with no room for them in multiplexes (that cater only to the Michael Bay movie of the moment).
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
That's just the thing. Star Wars was the first movie to heavily incorporate merchandising. Therefore, its quite possible that the contracts weren't as ironclad as they would be today, simply because neither Lucas nor the designer of the stormtrooper costumes knew what a goldmine they were sitting on.
We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it
Who owns the molds the armor is made from?
This ain't Russia....
Brian Muir is known as the sculptor of the original Stormtrooper armor, and Nick Pemberton is believed to have sculpt most of the helmet. Andrew Ainsworth's company manufactured the outfit. Of course, there must have been some interaction between these people during the process. Some prototypes were made, and refined. It is possible that Liz Moore (who sculpt C-3PO) was involved, but she died in 1976, so it is difficult to tell.
Andrew Ainsworth's company refined the molds after the production of the first movie to simplify production. It is believed by fans that Ainsworth kept some of the latter molds, which he when setting up his new business in recent years, modified back to produce casts more like the screen-used pieces. Some pieces of his Stormtrooper outfit are recast from pieces made by fans in recent years, who never gave Ainsworth permission to recast their sculpts.
If you want a Stormtrooper helmet and/or armor, then there are other "fan-made" armor that is actually more accurate to the original (recast from original screen-used armor), and also of better build and much cheaper.
Lucasfilm is not going after fans making and selling Stormtrooper armor. They are only going after those who are making a high-profile business out of it, like Andrew Ainsworth.
On the contrary, Lucasfilm is often cooperating with a fan organization called the 501st Stormtrooper Legion, which, being the largest costuming club in the world, has a few thousand members owning Stormtrooper costumes. George Lucas himself has appeared at events to meet and greet members and thank them for their appearance. The name "501st Legion" has even entered official canon, given to a group seen in the last movie. Almost all of the Stormtrooper cosplayers in the 501st Legion bought their armor from one of the dozen makers that exist - none of which has any licensing agreement with Lucasfilm. Licensed armor does not exist.
"We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
You Brits invented the language. We Yanks merely perfected it. ;)
Aha! So that's what inbreeding sounds like! The video basically said everybody who lives there now is at least 3rd generation BORN ON THE ISLAND. If there are only a few hundred, it means they're all (closely) related.
p.s. If it didn't say they were from Virginia, I would have assumed they sound distinctly like they're from southern Louisiana.
What you say is especially true in the entertainment industry. Reneging on a verbal contract to star in Boxing Helena cost Kim Bassinger millions. Many people who saw the flick say she got off cheap!
No movie is ever the effort, or vision, of one person. That's why there are all those names at the end of every feature flick. While it may have started with a script, the final product has had input from many sources.
George, you used to be considered one of the nicest, fairest people in the film industry. You don't need to be a greedy SOB here.
If George wants to own the copyright to something entirely to himself, let that be Jar Jar Binks.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Except that "work for hire" is largely an American concept, and the work in question was done in the UK. The US tends to resolve ambiguities in favour of the employer, while the UK tends to treat them as equal parties.
The main issue is likely to be jurisdictional. If the UK court decides ownership according to UK law, it's likely to favour Ainsworth. Unless he explicitly assigned copyright to Lucas (and if he did, he probably wouldn't even be contesting this case), he still has a copyright interest in the design. OTOH, if the court decides that the issue falls under US jurisdiction, it will simply rubber-stamp the US decision.
He's suing his propmaker? There is much anger in this one.
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
Surely it'd make more sense to sue the designers of the guns, for making them completely unable to shoot in a straight line?
These people are all really greedy. Isn't there enough money to go around? How much more money does Lucas really need?
"Politicians always tell the truth, when they're calling each other liars."
Wether a contract was in place or not, or if one could even be implied, Lucas Arts does in fact hold copywrite on the design of the stormtrooper uniform. If he wished to challenge that copywrite, I think this guy would have a hard time proving prior art, especially considdering lucas sketched his ideas for the storm troopers on story boards years before the film actually went into production, and further described them in written scripts before that.
There is no contest in life for which the unprepared have the advantage.
"These aren't the stormtroopers you're looking for."
I am Australian. :P
We have our own slang but the core of our language is British English.
but so are people who dress like stormtroopers for fun. Closet fascists every one.
Lord knows you'd never see any misuse of tort law in the UK.
Your courageous and selfless spelling corrections have made me a better person.
Andrew Ainsworth's contract does not; he could have requested a share, but he chose not to. His own dumb fault. There's a more informative article over at the Telegraph, which has two important bits of info.
1) There was no formal contract. In the absence of a formal assignment, it is unclear who owned the rights to the design of storm trooper armour. You could argue it either way.
2) Ainsworth is a British citizen who lives in Britain, and always has done. Under UK law, the "design right" in the shape of a physical object (which is NOT the same as copyright) expires after just fifteen years. So, in Britain, he's clear to make and sell just as much of the armour as he likes. It's possible that he may not be able to call it "Storm Trooper" armour; Lucas may have a trademark on that name. But he can definitely call it something more generic, e.g. "space trooper armour" or "space armour" or "sci-fi armour" or something.
Seriously, Lucas needs to say whether this is a problem for him concerning copyright (unlikely), trademarks (possibly), or patents (probably not). There is no such this as 'Intellectual Property' There are, however, separate and distinct areas of law each governing a separate topic: copyright, trademarks and patents.
So, titles like the main post above are simply helping to muddy the waters. This goes double for when the topic of software patents comes up. Please let the bullshit stop. You can do your bit by referring to copyright as such and not as 'IP'. Or by referring to trademarks as such and not as 'IP'. Or by referring to patents as such and not as 'IP'
Further, unless one is actively choosing to advocate in favor of software patents, lumping them together with regular patents only does a disservice. In the case of patents, differentiate between software patents and patents in the title and the 'tags'. Otherwise it's contributing to the confusion and lumping them in with something different that people have people have been indoctrinated for several generations to feel good about, rather than the new and abominable problem that it is.
So, choose your label correctly: 'copyright' xor 'trademark' xor 'patent' xor 'software patent'. Except for Internet Protocol (the IP part of TCP/IP) there is no 'IP',
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
The creator of something is the only owner when it comes to copyright.
If there was no specific contract signed then the creator does not lose his rights by default to the employer.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.