An Inquiry About the Awareness of Design Theft of the Undergraduates Who Study Cinema: In a Perspective of Intellectual Property Law

Abstract

Cinema, which commenced with a few primary moving image segments, has now been established as the seventh major art in the world. Since the commencement of cinema, humans have been experimenting with cinema in various ways. Nowadays, creators have to bear significant costs for these new creations. Consequently, to give economic value to these creations and protect the creators, intellectual property law, an essential concept in the legal field, should be applied to cinema. If any creation is used for commercial purposes without permission from the author, it can be called “Design Theft.” This research aimed to provide undergraduate students studying cinema with an understanding of design theft and potential solutions to address this issue. The research question was to determine whether Film students are aware of design theft. A Quantitative Research Methodology was used in this study. Data were collected through a questionnaire from a sample of 25 third-year students pursuing a Bachelor of Film and Television Studies (Hons). The quantitative research method in this study was limited only to the questionnaire method. Information was gathered by presenting several legal questions related to designing theft for students using the questionnaire method. The primary sources are Intellectual Property Act No. 36 of 2003 and related case decisions; the secondary sources are books related to the subject, and the tertiary sources are newspapers and the Internet. The research findings confirmed that undergraduates studying cinema generally lack specific knowledge about design theft. As a solution, it is recommended that institutes teaching cinema should provide comprehensive education on legal aspects related to cinema, including intellectual property law. Design theft affects not only the concerned designer but also several other parties. This situation will likely worsen as the government declares cinema as an industry.