Copyrights and Trademarks
Copyright is a type of intellectual
property. A copyright is a set of exclusive rights
granted by the government for a limited time to
protect the particular form, way or manner in
which an idea or information is expressed. Copyright
is the legal protection given to artists or producers
of creative work which protects them against unauthorized
copying of their work.
All copyrighted material must be
produced in a tangible medium (photo, paper, CD,
or video). Concepts, processes and ideas can not
be copy protected in the United States. If a statement
is made yet not recorded or published it is not
protected under the US copyright laws. In other
words things must be recorded in a physical form
in order to be protected under the copyright laws
in the United States.
Any creative works that meets the
definition is copy protected. If the creative
works was produced after 1978, it is protected
for the length of the authors life plus 70 years.
In the US original works can be
registered to be copy protected at the US Copyright
Office. If a creative work is not registered at
the US Copyright Office, it is still considered
copy protected. Registration does however make
it easier to defend a copyright. Use of a copyright
notice is encouraged to be included with creative
works because it informs the public that the work
is protected by copyright, identifies the copyright
owner, and shows the year of first publication.
In the US the Copyright Act of 1976
governs all US copyrights. Additionally the US
has treaties with a number of other countries
that assist copyright holders with protection
in foreign countries. Unfortunately, there is
no international copyright law that grants immediate
protection to copyright holders. That said, most
developed countries do respect and offer some
form of copyright protection. These foreign copyright
protections have been made easier through treaties
and conventions, namely the Universal Copyright
Convention in 1955 and the Berne Convention in
1989. Nations that participate in these conventions
respect copyrights from other participating countries.
Copyrights are often confused with
trademarks. Trademarks are also a type of intellectual
property. Trademarks are any symbols, words, number,
picture, or design, used by manufacturers or merchants
to identify their own goods and distinguish them
from goods made or sold by others. Company logos
are an excellent example of a creative that can
be protected through a trademark. Trademarks are
also known as service marks. Trademarks are registered
with the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark
Office), they are not registered with the US Copyright
Office.
Unlike copyrights, protection of
unregistered trademarks may be limited to their
specific geographical area. Trademarks must be
actively used in order to be considered "defensible".
Technology is challenging the laws
with new venues and mediums falling under the
protection of copyright and trademark laws.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll
http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS
feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages
marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com
audio recording and editing software.
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