Copyright

[nearlythere]

I am putting together an online fire safety training programme and it will address training and information issues that are not covered in other online programmes I have seen. There is an outfit over here which will quite happily copy, clone or steal anything it sees if it sees mileage in it. It has done so in the past.

I would like to protect what I am doing.
Is it possible?
Can you copyright a format?

[kurnal]

Is copyright the way forward? Folks will see what you are doing and if it is good they will take your ideas and use them anyway.
I dont see much point unless you are willing to pay for expensive law suits to persue your rights in the civil courts.

Just move over a bit I cant quite see over your shoulder NT.

[Wiz]

Surely, If someone simply reproduces what you have copyrighted then they are breaking the copyright.

[Davo]

NT


There are ways of password protecting the package, also of preventing printing
Consult your local hacker


davo

[Midland Retty]

That is true Wiz.

However as Kurnal points out you will need deep pockets to pay for expensive civil action to protect your rights. The bigger companies out there can afford to protect their intellectual property, unfortunately your average one man band probably can't.  

[nearlythere]

That is true Wiz.

However as Kurnal points out you will need deep pockets to pay for expensive civil action to protect your rights. The bigger companies out there can afford to protect their intellectual property, unfortunately your average one man band probably can't.  

Are you suggesting I'm not intellectual?

Probably difficult to copyright because this neccessary training and information is there in the legislation and guidance. I'm thinking more about how it is presented.

[Midland Retty]

Sorry Nearlythere but the ®™ &   ®™ smileys are © Copyright 2011 Midlandfire Enterprises Plc.

You owe me £100 everytime you use one of them! Thats £200 please!

On a serious note NT, If you create a presentation (such as a powerpoint) it would normally be deemed to be your intellectual property. Often just by stating that it is "copyright(ed)" somewhere on your presentation and associated handouts might deter others from plagiarising it.

There may be people who ignore that and try to copy your work, subsequently you have to decide on what action you would be willing to take to protect it. Sometimes the threat of legal action against unauthorised copying may be enough, particularly if the "offender" is self employed or part of a small company and thus can't afford the costs of challenging you in court.

In any event you are best advised to consult a lawyer who can advise you further, rather than us PC pilots who can only give you amateurish opinion!  

[Dominic]

NT

A method you could explore is one my kids use when they put music on utube 
Burn to cd or dvd, seal it in an envelope and post it back to yourself. As long as you dont open it, apparently it will stand up in court as your proof of writing.

Just a thought 

D

[Tom W]

I very much doubt you have looked through all elearning platforms and programmes as the big companies have bespoke courses. There are massive elearning companies out there that do very good courses because the content is written by experts but they are not off the shelf. They are made for a paticular client. How do you know you won't be in breach of theirs?

Media and its presentation of is extremely difficult to prove a breach of copyright its not worth thinking about.