Bill: Vote Intellectual Property Builds Amendment Act

[ToadKing]

CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
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A BILL TO

AMEND THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ACT

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The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:

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PART I — PRELIMINARIES​

1. Short Title and Enactment

(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Intellectual Property Builds Amendment Act.'

(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.

(3) This Act has been authored by Reps ToadKing & IgnitedTnT.

(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Rep. IgnitedTnT.

(5) This Act amends the following acts:

(a) Intellectual Property Act

2. Reasons and Intent

(1) To extend copyright protection to in-game architectural and structural works.

(2) To prevent the unauthorised reproduction of the architectural style, design, and details of protected builds without the creator's permission.

(3) To clarify that Freedom of Panorama does not permit the reproduction of protected builds.

(4) To provide a longer copyright period for architectural and structural works given their complexity and the time investment required to create them.

PART II — AMENDMENTS​

3. Amendments

(1) Section 3(1) of the Intellectual Property Act shall be amended as follows:

"(1) Automatic copyright protection shall apply to both published and unpublished creative works, provided the existence of tangible proof of when an individual or entity created the "expression" or material, and that it is an individual's creation, for a period of six months.six months, or in the case of architectural and structural works, 12 months, from the date of creation."

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(2) Section 3(2) of the Intellectual Property Act shall be amended as follows:

"(2) Copyright protection shall encompass, but not be limited to:

(a) Original literary works and;

(b) artistic works, including illustration, graphic designs, photography, and paintings.; and

(c) architectural and structural works, including in-game constructions and builds."

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(3) Section 7 of the Intellectual Property Act shall be amended as follows:

"7 - Freedom of Panorama

(1) Copyright protection for a work that is situated, otherwise than temporarily, in a public place, or in premises open to the public, shall not be infringed by its inclusion in artistic works.

(2) Freedom of Panorama shall not permit the reproduction or substantial imitation of the architectural style, design, or details of a protected in-game architectural or structural work."

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(4) The Intellectual Property Act shall be amended by adding the following new section after Section 7:

"8 - In-Game Architectural Works

(1) The reproduction or substantial imitation of the architectural style, design, or details of an in-game architectural or structural work without the express permission of the creator shall constitute copyright infringement.

(2) For the purposes of this section, substantial imitation shall mean the replication of the overall design, distinctive features, or material elements of a protected work such that a reasonable person would consider it a copy of the original.

(3) Any in-game architectural or structural work that has been formally listed as a historical building may not be replicated in whole or in part, regardless of the expiry of the copyright period or the express permission of the original creator."

 

[Darklander]

- The idea is not offensive but the text seems quite restrictive (12 month IP protections only for buildings?), and simultaneously doesn't provide for a mechanism to determine when a build is considered "created".

Simultaneously, doesn't protect the IP of buildings during their construction.

 

[Smami]

- I myself am a builder and I spend a lot of my time exploring and viewing other buildings in Redmont. I have never once heard of an instance in which one person's building was completely stolen and copied; nor have I heard of someone trying to copy the style or design of a building maliciously.

We have districts of the city where the entire goal is to build similar buildings and make the area fit a theme, this bill would make more of those or improving those districts very difficult.

I could potentially see myself supporting this bill in another form, but I see no need to expand our copyright protections for architecture at all.