Tag: Kardashians

Let’s Talk About the Intellectual Properties

Copyright

The tangible and exclusive legal right that applies ownership to the creator and protects the ‘expressions’ of some ideas, but not the idea itself. It lasts for 70 + years after author’s death. The author of the work has the ‘moral right’ to be identified as the author of the work and object to the distortion of the work. Economic rights associated with copyright vest in the owner of the copyright. The owner could be different from the author. For instance, in the case of a book, the owner of the copyright could be the publisher, and in the case of the movie, it could be the producer. In some instances, copyright may be jointly owned as well.


Patents

Patents are known as the set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor. A patent lasts 20 years for a utility patent, and 14 years for a design patent, beginning from the day that the patent application was filed. Patents protect inventions,which could either be products or processes. The requirements for an invention to be patented is that it must be useful, non-obvious, and new.

Trademarks

Trademarks are defined as a recognizable symbol, sign, expression, design , etc. which is used to identify and differentiate one product or service from another. Some common examples of trademarks that you probably encounter on the daily are the McDonald’s Golden “M” symbol, or the famous Nike Swoosh. An interesting fact about a trademark is that it never expires; it lasts forever! Also, there is no need to apply for a trademark because the minute the owner puts it in a tangible format, it is already protected by copyright. Even the Kardashian-Jenner sisters have filed documents to trademark the names of their children on a number of products including clothing lines, toys, and skincare products. Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott filed a trademark for “Stormiworld”.

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets are the information that act as a “secret device” for manufacturing a company’s products. These secrets could act as a formula, program, method, process, pattern, etc. An example could be a secret formula to Coca Cola. Unlike the other forms of protection such as copyright, trademark or patent this does not have to be in a tangible medium this can simply be an idea that one company develops and discloses the information from the public, that is where the term secret comes into play.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85YRhJYynpE

InstaJob

When scrolling through Instagram you may see those random ads that have no correlation with your interest and just scroll over them. What you may not know is that your favorite celebrities are in a way advertising specific products and getting paid an absurd amount of money for including such a small product. For example, Selena Gomez posted a picture of her sipping out of a coke bottle through a straw and it received over 7 million likes… You may completely ignore the fact that she is advertising a certain brand/product and just like the photo because you are a fan of hers. The question about Transparency arises, many people are unaware of this brand advertising through social media outlets like Instagram and many people are now asking is it manipulating to the viewers of these hidden advertisements.

Is this strategy of celebrity advertising through social media, specifically Instagram posts, considered fair to the public? This is a controversial topic of discussion, and opinions vary. Some may not mind that they are constantly influenced by the celebrities they know and love, however, some believe that they are being manipulated to be drawn to these products. This idea also relates to the idea of product placement in TV shows and films, as many argue that making a script revolved solely around a brand is messing with artistic integrity. However you may view it , both company AND celebrity greatly benefit from these brand deals.

So what other celebrities are getting paid for simply posting a picture with “#ad” in their caption? Per sponsored post, Kylie Jenner makes $1 million dollars. This makes her the highest paid social media influencer, according to the 2018 Rich List by Hopper HQ.  Michael Heller, CEO of digital marketing firm Talent Sources, claims that social-media posts now make a 25% contribution towards the Kardashian’s wealth. But Jenner and her Kardashian sisters aren’t the only ones making money off of sponsored posts. Checkout the YouTube video below to see who else makes hundreds off of one post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfWKYhaSns0