Intellectual property rights of bonsai artists

[SteveW]

Another aspect of this thread (viewtopic.php?f=27&t=27693#p270999) is the intellectual property rights of bonsai growers. It would be good to hear the views of people with an IP background on the questions of whether bonsai is an art and if the growers have intellectual property rights in their work.

[Starfox]

Hmm, so my wife works for the European IP office and I just asked her about it and her response was, and I quote....

'Right now, I’m going to have IP rights on my coffee'

Hope that helps, lol.

I may not get an answer until tonight and to be fair she may not know but I figure it is a good as place as any to ask.

[melbrackstone]

Whoa, where's the worm can emoticon?

I only know a little bit about copyright for photography....trying to quantify what rights a bonsai artist would have is messing with my head!

[Starfox]

Well here is what I have come up with, IP rights are a pretty broad and complicated area but I think I have narrowed it down assuming that legally speaking a living, sculpted, bonsai tree can be considered art.

Naturally copyright law varies on your location but it would seem that 'Moral Rights' is the provision for artists under copyright law for both Australia and the EU. The USA takes it a bit further with the VARA law.

This link gives a good breakdown of it all
https://www.artslaw.com.au/information- ... al-rights/

Essentially one cannot destroy a piece of artwork without the owners consent during their lifetime or up to 70 years after their death or if the 'Defence of Reasonableness' can be applied(explained in the above link).
If you want stronger protections than that then you will likely need to go down the contract law path for specifics.

Trademarks and patents are another thing altogether and well you can't patent an aesthetic so may be moot.

[MJL]

Whoa, where's the worm can emoticon?

I only know a little bit about copyright for photography....trying to quantify what rights a bonsai artist would have is messing with my head!

Can of Worms ... https://images.app.goo.gl/cyLfJf82dXsF2pLB9

[melbrackstone]

Can of Worms ... https://images.app.goo.gl/cyLfJf82dXsF2pLB9