Protect and capitalise on intellectual property

Definition

Understanding and managing your own rights: copyright applied to digital work, licences granted, contractual clauses, proof of anteriority, the status of AI-assisted creations. Intellectual property is a creator's first asset — often the only one at the start.

Components

• Copyright: rights arising automatically, moral and economic rights
• What is protectable and what is not: works, ideas, formats, names
• Licences you grant: consciously choosing what you authorise (including open licences)
• Assignment against licence in contracts: what you give, what you rent, what you keep
• Creation and AI: the status of co-generated works, emerging contractual vigilance
• Proof of anteriority and protection of distinctive signs (names, trade marks)

The four levels

1. N1 Discovery Lower secondary · complete beginner

   Is able to explain that a creation belongs to them from the moment it is made, and what others may or may not do with it.

   Evidence of assessment

   Explain the rights attached to one of their own creations and what a third party would have to do to reuse it.

2. N2 Application Upper secondary · advanced beginner

   Is able to choose the licence under which they share a creation and to assess its consequences.

   Evidence of assessment

   Share a creation under a chosen licence, with a written justification of the choice.

3. N3 Adaptation Tertiary · junior professional

   Is able to secure their creations and to spot intellectual-property clauses in a simple contract.

   Evidence of assessment

   Carry out an intellectual-property audit of their creations and analyse the clauses of a standard contract.

4. N4 Orchestration Experienced professional

   Is able to structure intellectual property into something valuable and to manage their rights actively.

   Evidence of assessment

   Map their creative assets and their potential value, with at least one exploitation carried out: licence, assignment, derivative product.