A rude Jolt for a creator
Mark Robinson was watching television when he got a rude jolt – his invention, Jolt My Car, had appeared on screen under a different name, marketed by a different company.
Topics: Legal affairs
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The fight over Mandela's R2.1billion smile
South African's Government Communication Information System (GCIS) has been accused of misappropriating a famous photograph of Nelson Mandela. It shows yet again to PitchMark your work to stop such issues from arising.
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Celebrities sued for stealing paparazzi photos… of themselves
Paparazzi pose a strange problem to celebrities – they make money off the photos they take of the celebrities, while the celebrities do not make a cent. So it is a kind of poetic justice when celebrities start stealing photos from paparazzi, usually when they copy the photos from the website of a news outlet that has licensed the photos.
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App designer accuses MTR: Please stand back from the ideas
Hong Kong's MTR refutes allegations by an app designer that it stole their ideas. Promised to call them to clear things up.
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Bagging a tea slogan lands agency in hot water
The Malaysian branch of major international advertising agency TBWA has found itself infused in hot water over claims a slogan for a bubble tea franchise was copied from a local motorcycling lifestyle brand.
The slogan "Never fear the strong. Especially strong tea" was recently adopted by Tealife in a major rebranding exercise (forced upon owner Loob Holdings by a dispute dubbed the "bubble tea -
The corrupting power of idea theft
Even politics is not immune to idea theft. While political parties generally try to attract voters by being different from other parties, sometimes adopting the policies of others and calling them your own is a better strategy.
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Stealing ideas for TV shows - that’s reality!
Good ideas can make or break a TV show - especially in reality TV. So it's no wonder writers are tempted to copy ideas from already successful shows. But does that make it right?
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After 25 years, a fly in U2’s anointment
Rock band U2 is being sued by guitarist Paul Rose for ripping off his sound for their hit track The Fly.
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Pitch fees: don’t bank on them
Advertising agencies have long asked prospective clients to pay pitch fees, to compensate them for the time and effort that goes into creating pitches - even if they end up unsuccessful. Singapore's Central Provident Fund is now offering such fees. In general, we don't advocate pitch fees because it could reduce your claim to compensation if you lose a pitch, but your ideas are used anyway.
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Standing Rock a sitting duck for intellectual property thieves
T-shirt designs to support native Americans in the Dakota Access Pipeline dispute are themselves subject of dispute, with lots of rip offs jumping onto the bandwagon.
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Google-Uber stoush shows the importance of being in the driver’s seat of your ideas
There are lessons for anyone with an idea in Google's suit against Uber over self-driving technology.
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Stitched up: The fashion industry's culture of appropriation
The fashion industry is particularly rife with idea theft. Better PitchMark your designs before you pitch them to a fashion design house.
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Seven ways to protect your ideas. Or is it eight?
How to protect your brilliant idea from being stolen? Technology writer Mehul Rajput has given the issue some thought, specifically as it relates to smart phone apps. He sees these as the latest virtual "picks and shovels" for Creators to mine the treasured seams of internet gold and quickly turn a dream into a fortune. But he has this warning.
"If you, too, are an entrepreneur in the area of m -
Borrowed jokes: Idea theft is no laughing matter
Comedian Conan O'Brien is defending himself against claims by another comedian that he stole his jokes.
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How to avoid a bun fight over your original ideas
What the controversy over Donald Trump's inauguration cake tells us about idea theft.
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Do idea theft prevention measures you read about online really work?
You can find many articles online giving good advice on how to prevent idea theft. But how effective are they really?
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Is it idea theft when the keeper of KFC's secret recipe actually reveals it?
Colonel Harland Sanders' nephew hands a newspaper reporter a scrap book, which includes a handwritten note of the 11 secret herbs and spices. If you were the creator of the next KFC, how would you prevent this happening to you?
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Keep calm…and take action
Flossy P, an Australian artist who is known for drawing giant wombats, discovered her designs were ripped off by a US-based online company. The artist found out that the picture of the giant wombat she drew were printed in poor quality on art prints and t-shirts, and were being sold at higher prices and advertised with promotional photographs taken from her Flossy P Facebook page.
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Is it idea theft when you give someone an idea without expecting compensation?
A Florida-based advertising agency creates a mock campaign for the Libertarian candidate in the US presidential election, and promptly saw Gary Johnson's campaign use it ...without compensation.
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Warner Brothers to face the music of "Kong: Skull Island" idea theft claim
A suit against Warner Bros has taken another step forward, with a Los Angeles Court reportedly rejecting the studio's bid to evade a claim by artist Joe DeVito.
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