Developing Intellectual Property Policies:
A How-To Guide for Museums
Glossary
Assignment - in intellectual property contexts, a legal transfer of ownership or usage rights from one entity to another.
Berne Convention - formally "The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works", a multilateral agreement or treaty that recognizes copyrights that exist in other member nations. Two key concepts addressed in the Convention are: 1) "national treatment", a provision in which every member nation agrees to extend the protection of its own copyright laws to works that originate in other member nations; and 2) minimum standards of copyright protection that all treaty members must provide.
Brand - traditionally refers to a distinctive product or service associated with an organization. Recently, this term has been used to define a corporate image associated with a particular organization that is firmly rooted in the public's mind.
Cease and desist letter - a letter (usually issued by an attorney on behalf of an intellectual property rightsholder) sent to an accused infringer notifying them of their possible violation of copyright, trademark, or patent law, and requesting that the recipient stop all use (i.e., cease) of the intellectual property in question or face legal action.
Cultural heritage community - individuals, organizations, associations, and groups who work in the cultural sector and promote its growth, preservation, and sustainability.
Cybersquatting - the process of registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad-faith intent in order to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. (From Cybersquatting: What It Is and What Can Be Done About It? NOLO Plain English Law Centers Encyclopedia, 2003. www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/article.cfm/objectID/60EC3491-B4B5-4A98-BB6E6632A2FA0CB2 )
Due Diligence - the research, review, consideration, and other efforts that an individual or organization undertakes in a particular circumstance in order to avoid harm to other persons or property.
Economic rights - rights that may yield financial or economic benefits to the rights owner. Unlike moral rights (which protect the reputation and personality of the creator), economic rights safeguard the possible financial benefits that are designed to reward and encourage creators to develop new works. In U.S. copyright law, the five rights granted to creators -- to reproduce their work, to produce derivative works based upon their work, to distribute their work, to publicly perform the work, to publicly display the work -- are all economic rights.
Marks - a term that refers to the particular words, phrases, logos, symbols, sounds or other unique attributes used by an organization to distinguish its good and services from the goods and services of other organizations.
Moral rights - rights considered innate to a creator of a work. These rights generally include the right to claim or disavow authorship of a work, the right to object to any modification or use of a work that could be detrimental to the creator's reputation, and the right to the integrity of a work. Moral rights can be waived but they cannot be transferred. Although they are guaranteed under the Berne convention, many signatories, including the United States, interpret moral rights within their own nation's very limited national laws.
Nondisclosure agreement - a contract in which the parties promise to protect the confidentiality of secret information that is disclosed during employment or another type of business transaction. If you enter into a nondisclosure agreement with someone who uses your secret without authorization, you can request a court to stop the violator from making any further disclosures and you can sue for damages. (From Nondisclosure Agreements. NOLO Plain English Law Centers Encyclopedia, 2003. www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/article.cfm/objectID/2ECF62E6-B334-4E83-9A94FA20A3FAFD38)
