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Free Website Content
Copyrights and Trademarks
Copyrights and Trademarks
By Sharon Housley
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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copy of the issue or a link to any online posting would
be greatly appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
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