The IP culture in the modern world – improvement, integration and feedback

The analysis of the level and the degree of the IP culture development, of course, should be started with a definition of the concept under consideration. The legal definition of this term is absent, what is quite logic, since when the culture is mentioned, as a rule, a description of the behavior governed by the norms of moral rather the law is implied. According to Philosophy Practical Guide, the culture can be defined as: “A set of the material and spiritual values, which have been created and which are being created by people in the process of the social and historical practices, as well as the technologies for their manufacture characterizing the historically achieved stage in the human civilization development...”[1]

The concept of the IP culture can be disclosed as follows: it is a set of the rules and norms of the public behavior regarding the creation, use and defence of the subject matters of intellectual property, as well as the recognition and defence of the rights of the creators and the right holders of the results of the intellectual activity and the means of individualization.  The following can be identified as the subtypes of the IP culture: the culture of creating the subject matters, the culture of the management and the culture of using the results of the creative work of others.

The main postulates of the IP culture are:

• The recognition of the value of the intellectual activity.
• The respect for the property and non-property rights of the owners and the creators of intellectual property.
• The recognition and the possibility of exercising the right to defence against the illegal use, distorting, copying, appropriating and other types of infringements.
• The encouragement of the creation of new subject matters of intellectual property.
• The preservation the integrity and inviolability of the results of the intellectual activity, which are of interest to the future generations (the works of literature, art, architecture, etc.).

The supporters of the development and propaganda of the IP culture note its positive influence on the solution of the global world problems, innovations and the creative activity. The high level of the IP culture contributes to increasing the creative activity and increasing the number of the subject matters being created. A person realizes that the development of the society requires the achievements that meet the needs of the modern world. People recognize and respect for the rights of the creators and the owners of intellectual property. A memorable example confirming such point of view can be a demonstration of the latest achievements in the field of the information technologies by the representatives of Russia at the 23rd session of the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) of the World Intellectual Property Organization. Namely: within the framework of the project “Territory,” the domestic scientists have developed a service for identifying the subject matters using the satellite photographs from the Russian spacecrafts Resurs-P, Kanopus-V, as well as the PlanetScope grouping.[2] Moving the priorities and the interests of the society towards electronic networks is obvious. As the experts have noted: “The rapid evolution of the digital environment is a challenge for the legal regulation of the protection and defence of intellectual property.”[3] Understanding the need to attract an additional attention to the use and the defence of the subject matters of intellectual property in the current environment, the Russian researchers have made a decision to disclose the information about their achievements in the digital environment and presented the fundamentally new subject matters in order to support the initiative of the representatives of the Russian Federation regarding the digital transformation of the intellectual property field.

The need to develop the IP culture within the framework of a particular country is obvious. There are a number of circumstances demonstrating that the state encourages the development of the intellectual property culture. These can include:

• The availability of the legal institutions governing the social relations in the field of the creation and the application of intellectual property, as evidence of the importance of the innovative and creative activities.
• Informing and educating the public about the culture of using other people's results of the intellectual activity.
• Stimulating the innovation activity by establishing the competitions, allocating the state grants and subsidizing the research and inventive centers.
• Suppressing the illegal actions and applying the measures of a sanctional character stipulated by the legislation for the illegal use of the results of the intellectual activity.

One of the main tasks of the public policy is the integration of the IP culture into all fields of the public activity: into enterprises, educational institutions, research centers, etc. In response, the feedback arises: the person, who sees that the creative activity is welcomed by the society and the state, and the results of the intellectual activity are used and defended in accordance with the law, creates willingly the subject matters of intellectual property that are required for the progressive development and the moral and spiritual improvement.

Improving the IP culture

The culture of the society of any era has its flaws. In the modern world, along with the promotion of the scientific and technological progress and the all-round promotion of the creative activity, unfortunately, there is a low culture of using other people's results of the intellectual activity. This is evidenced by the widespread illegal use of audiovisual works, plagiarism, the manufacture of counterfeit products and other things. According to the information provided by the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, 16.2 million units of counterfeit products were identified in 2018.[4] However, according to the results of a sociological survey, more than 80% of the respondents answering the question: “Have you ever bought counterfeit products?” said: “Yes.”[5] These data indicate that not only the manufacture, but also the acquisition of the counterfeit copies occurs in the majority of cases intentionally. Consequently, it is necessary to work upon the awareness and acceptance of the moral and ethical principles of using intellectual property in the society through propaganda at the state level and by consolidating a clear and confident position of each individual, in particular. A person must understand that the illegal use of the results of the intellectual activity is a kind of thieving and it is also a violation of the law and an infringement on the rights of others.