Shireroth

Nelagan Intellectual Property Protection Act

1) Trademark
a. Definition – a name, slogan, motto, or piece of art that a company associates with a product, line of products, business plan, or the company at large.
b. Any individual citizen or non-citizen, or a group of individuals, or a corporate entity may apply for a trademark, which, if registered, will be protected under Nelagan copyright law.
c. In order to register a trademark, its owner(s) must prove single, solitary, and undisputed control of its creation.
d. Trademarks, once registered, cannot be modified and still retain their protection under Nelagan copyright law. This includes changing the spelling of a name, the words in a motto or slogan, or the image or colors of an image. If such a change is desired, the new trademark must be submitted for copyright protection individually.
e. The owner(s) of a trademark may, at any time, choose to abandon the trademark.

2) Intellectual Property
a. Definition – any creative effort that can be claimed by a single individual or a group with known, discrete members. Creative efforts include songs, poems, works of art, stories, essays, editorials, or any other media that can reasonably be inferred as to being appropriate for this protection.
b. Intellectual property is protected under law by default for all Nelagan citizens. It is not necessary to apply for or register intellectual property – only be able to prove ownership if the need arises.
c. Non-citizens creating or distributing works of creative effort in Nelaga do not automatically gain intellectual property protection. They may apply for such protection in the following ways:
i. Apply for copyright protection.
ii. Register a business within the jurisdiction of the Nelaga Territories that has control over the creative effort.
iii. Be covered under an international treaty or agreement that ensures protection.
d. The owner(s) of the intellectual property, being by default its creator(s), has the right to sell or give their property to any individual or organization they choose. However, once they have relinquished control, they are no longer the owner in any legal sense.

3) Copyright
a. Copyright refers to Nelagan law’s protection over trademarks and intellectual property.
b. The copyright protection includes:
i. No other individual or group may take credit for the content’s creation.
ii. No other individual or group may use the content without permission.
iii. No other individual or group may reproduce or alter the content.
iv. No other individual or group may make profit, including any reasonably inferred form of indirect profit, from use of the content.
c. At any point, the owner(s) of the creative effort may voluntarily waive copyright protection for whatever purposes they desire, either to a certain individual or group, or to the general public at large. They may also cease waiving copyright protection at any time.

4) Violations
a. Any citizen, non-citizen, group of individuals, or corporate entity may file a claim of copyright infringement to the Nelagan judiciary. This will start an investigation hearing to determine if the claim holds merit.
b. The investigation will differ depending on if the offending party is composed of entirely Nelagan citizens.
i. Domestic claims – claims filed against a Nelagan citizen or citizens shall be be handled by the Nelagan Judiciary, regardless if the person or entity filing the claim is composed of citizens or non-citizens.
ii. International claims – claims against non-citizens or entities composed of non-citizens shall be handled by whatever applicable international treaties or agreements apply, or by any resolution accepted by all international governments. If no such treaties, agreements, or resolutions exist or can be negotiated, the Nelaga Territories will be unable to enforce the copyright law abroad and the infringement claim will be dropped.
c. Copyright infringement claims must be filed for any action to occur. Claims not filed with result in no legal action even if the copyright law is clearly being violated.
d. Violation of copyright is considered a crime, for which punishments are decided by the judiciary. They shall not exceed a temporary ban from the forums of more than 10 days.

5) Retroactive Claims
a. Any intellectual property created by Nelagan citizens before the passage of this act shall automatically be considered intellectual property in the eyes of the Nelagan law.
i. Non-citizens must still apply for intellectual property protection.
ii. Trademarks created before the passage of this act must still be registered.
b. However, no citizen, non-citizen, group of individuals, or corporate entity shall be held legally accountable for any possible breach of this act that occurred before its passage, in accordance with Article VII.17 “Principles of legality and proportionality of criminal offenses and penalties” in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the Nelaga Territories.

Summary: citizens creating anything intellectual or creative in the country automatically have legal protection for their works being stolen or used by unauthorized individuals. Non-citizens must apply for such protection, with an application basically being just proving they created or own it. Trademarks can be applied for as well by citizens, non-citizens, or corporations and also be protected.

The maximum penalty for breaking the copyright law is a temporary forum ban of ten days. That's the maximum. I'd see normal penalties being a fine or possibly losing a business license within the country. But the courts can decide what they want to do if the time comes.

Also, a lot of the protections of this act hinge on our ability to protect our works abroad, so we should probably talk to our allied countries and negotiate them agreeing to the terms of this act. This would give Nelaga legal power to pursue copyright claims abroad.

1. Any nation who has signed the Convention on the Establishment of a Commonwealth Court may sign this treaty.

2. Trademarks
a. Definition – a name, slogan, motto, or piece of art that a company associates with a product, line of products, business plan, or the company at large.
b. Trademarks cannot be modified and still retain their protection under SCIPPA. This includes changing the spelling of a name, the words in a motto or slogan, or the graphic or colors of an image. If a change is made a new trademark is created and proof of ownership of the new trademark is required independently of the original.
i. Extremely minor changes may be exempt to this rule. The Small Commonwealth Court will determine if a change counts as extremely minor.
c. The owner(s) of a trademark, being by default its creator(s), may, at any time, choose to abandon the trademark, or to transfer full ownership of it to another entity.

3. Intellectual Property
a. Definition – any creative effort that can be claimed by a single individual or a group with known, discrete members. Creative efforts include songs, poems, works of art, stories, essays, editorials, or any other media that can reasonably be inferred as to being appropriate for this protection.
b. Intellectual property is protected under the SCIPPA and the Commonwealth Court for all citizens of all nations in the Small Commonwealth. It is not necessary to apply for or register intellectual property – only be able to prove ownership if the need arises.
c. The owner(s) of the intellectual property, being by default its creator(s), has the right to sell or give their property to any individual or organization they choose. However, once they have relinquished control, they are no longer the owner in any legal sense.

4. Copyright
a. Copyright refers to the Small Commonwealth Court's protection over trademarks and intellectual property.
b. The copyright protection includes:
i. No other individual or group may take credit for the content’s creation.
ii. No other individual or group may use the content without permission.
iii. No other individual or group may reproduce or alter the content without permission.
iv. No other individual or group may make profit, including any reasonably inferred form of indirect profit, from use of the content.
c. At any point, the owner(s) of the creative effort may voluntarily waive copyright protection for whatever purposes they desire, either to a certain individual or group, or to the general public at large. They may also cease waiving copyright protection at any time.

5. Violations
a. Any citizen, group of individuals, or corporate entity may file a claim of copyright infringement to the Commonwealth Court. This will start an investigation hearing to determine if the claim holds merit.
b. Claims will be judged by the Small Commonwealth Court on the following criteria:
i. Original creation of material (date and evidence)
ii. Proof of a transfer of ownership, if the owner(s) is not the original creator(s).
c. Copyright infringement claims must be filed for any action to occur. Claims not filed with result in no legal action even if the copyright law is clearly being violated.
d. The penalties for violating a copyright claim shall be determined by the Commonwealth Court and the Small Commonwealth nations.

6. Any trademarks intellectual property created before the passage of this act shall automatically be considered under Small Commonwealth Court copyright protection.

7. This Convention may be amended by a qualified majority of the State Parties exceeding three fourths of the votes cast.

c. Copyright infringement claims must be filed for any action to occur. Claims not filed with result in no legal action even if the copyright law is clearly being violated.

d. The penalties for violating a copyright claim shall be determined by the Commonwealth Court and the Small Commonwealth nations.

d. Signees of this treaty are obligated to accepting the court's ruling in a copyright violation claim by making sure any at fault parties in their citizen bases comply with the court's rulings and cease use of copyrighted materials. There is no mandatory criminal or economic penalty for violating copyright claim, though nations can handle any domestic penalties they wish under their own law systems.