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Business News Legal
Government publishes IP guide for employers
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 27 September 2011
The government’s Intellectual Property Office has published a new guide for employers advising them on how to ensure their staff are not infringing copyright on company time.
Noting the civil and criminal risks to both employers and employees of being found guilty of infringement, it offers advice on business processes and policies that could stop that tedious bloke in accounts from downloading the new Nickelback album pre-release via a dodgy file-sharing site, or that irritating woman in a HR from catching up on ‘X-Factor’ via an unlicensed video sharing website.
Am I stereotyping there? I should stress there is no reason why a tedious bloke might not want to watch ‘X-Factor’ on MegaVideo nor why an irritating women might not be downloading Nickelback via The Pirate Bay. I’ve just never personally come across that bloke or woman. Not that I would have done anyway, because no tedious or irritating people work at CMU, and they certainly wouldn’t be infringing anyone’s copyrights even if they did. Oh no.
Anyway, here’s Business Minister Baroness Judy saying words: “This new free guidance is a great example of government, enforcement agencies and industry working together to raise awareness of the importance of managing intellectual property in the workplace. I would urge companies of all sizes to look at the guidance so they know how to protect their own IP and how to respect the IP of others. If they don’t, they expose themselves to the risk of legal action and risk damaging their own reputation and brand. Intellectual property rights are essential to the success and growth of any business. However, many companies can leave themselves open to prosecution if they or their staff infringe the IP rights belonging to other companies or individuals”.
The government’s IP guide is online here.
