The GCA is joining forces with leading law firm (and longstanding GCA member), Briffa, IP specialist law firm, to host a Licensing & Copyright Seminar. The seminar, which is free for GCA members to attend, will take place virtually using Zoom on Wednesday 12 August, starting at 2.30pm and lasting around an hour.
William Miles, partner of London-based law company, Briffa (pictured above) will head up the seminar on the legal front while GCA Council members, Daniel Prince (md of Danilo), Rachel Hare (md of Belly Button Designs), Mark Callaby (md of Ohh Deer) together with Amanda Fergusson (ceo of the GCA) will form a panel to answer questions and share their collective knowledge on the subject.
“Of all the subjects that members make contact about wanting advice or guidance, licensing and copyright issues come up consistently. With Briffa not only being a long-time supporter of the GCA, but experts in this field, they are the perfect partner to lead a seminar which will share legal pointers as well as practical tips for GCA members,” explained Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA.
The seminar will be relevant for publishers looking to licence out their designs to third parties as well as ‘licensing in’ brands and other artists’ work. It will cover topics such pre-contract discussions, key terms to include in any agreement, practical considerations regarding royalties and what to do if things go wrong. It will demystify for publishers how best to licence their creative work, how having the right legal agreement can make a difference between a lucrative commercial arrangement and a failure.
The seminar will also cover the tricky area of copyright law and how infringement claims are assessed by the courts.
“The aim will be to help members understand what their rights and remedies are if they think they have been infringed and how best to defend themselves if they have been unfairly accused of infringement,” added William Miles, partner of Briffa.
Among Briffa’s many triumphs in protecting greeting card publishers’ creative assets includes how it came to the fore a couple of years ago to support many GCA publisher members whose artwork had been ‘stolen’ and was being used on a number of products on US website GearPassio.
https://www.pgbuzz.net/gca-and-briffa-victory-over-copyright-theft-for-card-publishers/
Speaking at the time, Margaret Briffa, founder of the eponymous law firm responded to say that she was delighted to “be able to support the Greeting Card Association and its members to get a swift result to put an end to the blatant copying. Let’s hope our efforts help put a stop to all infringing activities of GearPassio and similar rip-off sites.”
The upcoming seminar will include a short presentation from Briffa’s William Miles followed by a question and answer session, involving members of the panel. It is free to attend for GCA members. Anyone who would like to attend should email admin@gca.cards. A link will then be sent to attendees. In the unlikely event that this is oversubscribed places will be issued on a first come first served basis.
Top: William Miles, partner of Briffa will be heading up the seminar from the legal perspective.
