Feature Article by: Ibrahim Nayi Issahku (IP LAW RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT)
In the visual arts domain, the individual artist employs various techniques and material to express his or her feelings, emotions and differing perceptions of the environment surrounding him or her. The outcome of this creative expression is judged mainly by the sense of sight.
Painting, drawing, sculpture in various materials, printmaking, photography, plans, maps, performance art, installation art, mail art, body art, textile arts, fashion design, multimedia, video art, web design, web art, digital art, graphic and product design are part of the expressions of visual arts. Artisans or visual artists have various reasons or motivations for producing creative art products.
These motivations could be cultural, religious, social, self-expression or earning-related, and so on. When issues of livelihood, recognition, reward, and profitability are prominent motivators, the modern tools of marketing and Intellectual Property come in very convenient for reaping the fruits of handwork, through rewarding the skillful expression of creativity.
Visual Artists and Artisans, whether operating at the individual level, in family or micro-enterprises, should apply and enhance enterprise management skills. They need to understand the basics of intellectual property management in the context of business and marketing in order to ask the right questions and evaluate the responses of the various intermediaries in the value chain between them and their consumers.
Most artisans and visual artists, including those who are running business enterprises, consider themselves to be merely creative and skilled and believe that they do not create any intellectual property. All those in this category are creators of intellectual property assets and therefore can and should own this valuable IP portfolio.
Understanding, identifying, managing and exploiting knowledge of IP assets should become a critical decision for consideration in every business success of the creative art market place. There are many elements that contribute to the business success of the art industry, but the importance of ‘intellectual property’ is important as it determines the real value of good art business models and marketing success.
The relevant knowledge can give an artisan or visual artist an unbeatable advantage. It also potentially leads to a change in the perception of the artisan or visual artist. a transformation from a mere skilled craftsperson or creator into a ‘knowledge worker or professional such as a designer, or a ‘creator of a knowledge-based enterprise such as a design agency.
This is a major change that the IP system seeks to promote and bring to bear on artisans and visual artists to maximize their incomes while at the same time protecting their works. Intellectual Property as a tool creates a new kind of trust and confidence in business relationships and is a risk-reduction and empowering tool for art enterprise’s success.
However, Intellectual property (IP) is the name given to property arising out of the independent human intellectual effort. The output of human intellectual effort often manifests itself as new or original knowledge or creative expression which adds a desirable quality to a marketable product or service. Various elements provide intellectual output with attributes that, in one way or another, enhance the quality of life. These elements may be called human endeavor, ingenuity, creativity, inventiveness, a flash of inspiration, sudden insight, or a new insight into observed facts.
They may or may not involve experimentation, trial and error, skill, teamwork, craftsmanship, aesthetic sensibility, and so on. They may involve solving a technical problem in making something with more desirable functional qualities, or result in creating something aesthetically pleasing, to satisfy a human need or want, be it utilitarian, social, cultural, mental, spiritual or religious. These value-adding or ‘quality of life’ enhancing elements are the basis of Intellectual Property.
All artisans and visual artists in one way or the other create Intellectual Property assets. Their works may be protected by the copyright system. Many of the creative assets possess confidential information of commercial value, known as trade secrets. Some of these creative assets can also make use of the trademark system. Those creative new or original designs that are two or three dimensional in character may be protected under the industrial design system.
Some of these artisans and visual artists may even invent or improve a product or process used in their creative value chain, which can be protected under the patent or a utility model system. There are, therefore, many practical reasons for artisans and visual artists to understand and use various types of Intellectual Property to enhance their potentials and economic gains from their creative portfolios.
