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Our litigation attorneys pursue intellectual property disputes in the United States, China, and throughout the world. They represent patent holders, trademark owners, and other businesses in lawsuits at home and abroadIntellectual property is extremely difficult to create. On the Internet, however, theft of copyrighted material and trademark infringement is as simple as right-clicking on a picture.
Now more than ever, businesses and artists must be vigilant and protect their copyrights because it is so easy for other people to steal your creative efforts. An experienced and savvy trial lawyer can help you protect your right
Securing Your Intellectual Property Rights
Careful planning and protection of intellectual property assets often prevents costly litigation down the line. Your lawyer will help you take steps to properly register and protect your trademarks and copyrights with the appropriate federal or state authority.
If you have employees or hire independent contractors, you lawyer will help you make sure you have the proper work-for-hire agreements in place to ensure that you own the intellectual property created at your direction. This often arises in the context of website development and creation deals.
Finally, to obtain trade secret status, the law requires the implementation of certain business procedures and practices. Our copyright attorneys are experienced in advising businesses on implementing such procedures for the protection of trade secrets.
Protecting Your Intellectual Property Through Litigation
Our copyright attorneys represent both defendants and plaintiffs in a multitude of copyright and trademark infringement cases across the United States, including.
Entertainment law. Our members represent screenwriters, musicians and music publishing companies in copyright infringement cases. I represent entertainment companies in high-stakes copyright royalty cases involving both music and television rights.
Software development. Our members have gained a particular niche by representing companies and individuals in various trade secret and infringement cases relating to proprietary software and the ownership of such software.
Copyright Infringement. Our members have represented both plaintiffs and defendants in cutting-edge copyright infringement cases involving sales of pirated goods on the Internet and ownership of proprietary computer source code. In addition, they have significant experience in traditional forms of infringement relating to film, music, television and literature. Finally, our members have served as a trial lawyers in a number of cases relating to products and goods originating overseas.
Trademark Infringement. Trademark law is extremely complex and technical. Our members have served as trial attorney in a number of trademark infringement suits relating to domain names and counterfeit goods illegally imported and sold in the United States.
Copyright Laws in Card Making
Theft of intellectual property is quite a touchy subject that can divide families and other tight knit groups. We all have different ideas about it, but it is safe enough to say that no one wants it to happen to them. That is why one way or another, we must learn about it since it affects a lot of things, even though that may not seem affected at all. Even in card making, copyright issues actually matter. As sad as that may sound, it is just a part of the creative process in the end.The basic thing is that when someone uses and claims ownership of concepts and ideas that are not his own, it is a copyright violation. Laws regarding this grant rights to the creator for any artistic and intellectual work that he had come up with and no one else has may use it without permission. If you think about it in the context of card making, you can then see that this is quite a complicated subject indeed. Of course, it matters much more if you are making money out of card making.
If you made an original design that you seek to capitalize on, you can then seek copyright protection as insurance for your idea. This may even apply to the literature within the card, which makes it even more dicey. That is why if you really are going to get them protected, then you better make sure that you did your homework.
While you may think that such laws are not as serious as those for murder, rape, and high treason, it is still something that you should wrap your head around with since you might fall victim to a copyright lawsuit if you unknowingly use a design that may have the slightest resemblance to someone else's copyrighted design. That may seem preposterous and unlikely, but they do happen and they shock other people a lot. You should be on your toes at all times then.
The Internet is quite a resource for making sure that your work is as original as it can be. Also, such laws affect those that are for commercial use, so do not worry too much if you are just doing it as a hobby. But if you are making money out of it, then start reading about copyrighting because you are going to need it.
Ten Things to Think About in This Struggling Economy
A largely overlooked issue that may well be an underlying cause of our sluggish economy can be attributed to the millions of moneyless transactions going on everyday via the Internet, Max Davis founder of DataRevenue.Org elaborates;1.[market pricing = capitalism] Therefore what happens when media, information and knowledge are free? Creativity and knowledge are something humans will NOT run out of – can we afford NOT to somehow monetize these resources?
2.Intellectual property monetization (copyright industries) is a major marker for a stable economy in a capitalistic society – the Internet has challenged the monetization of intellectual property and we need to correct this for the good of the whole.
3.Manufacturing based industries will always have to be "reset" (think auto industry) for these industries are finite and will continue to reach total saturation of productivity where "market price" will have to be adjusted by bailing out the industry – this is an inevitability in the cycle of most material production.
4.So why would we NOT monetize something that IS infinite as we know it – human ingenuity and creativity? Fortunately for us, copyright industries can be and also deserve a "reset" just like the auto industry and other manufacturing based industries.
5.Monetization may be started by setting voluntary/statutory rates for the consumption of media, information and knowledge from the Internet and other systems of mass communications.
6.The "private sector" may actually establish market pricing from newly established non-profit collectives (consisting of private sector stakeholders) put in place for that purpose. The government will simply mandate the key components that will make this possible such as ISPs charging users relative to their amount of consumption.
7.Example One; a person searches and finds a video on YouTube that shows how to repair an iphone glass; the person watches the video and after receiving the parts cheaply from the Internet, repairs the iphone. The immediate effect of that is this – the person accessed the video free so nothing (no money) went to the creator of that media/information and nothing went to the local iphone repair shop either; money was NOT efficiently circulated in this transaction with enough strength to stimulate an economy!
8.Example Two; a person goes on the Internet to the United States Patent and Trademark office to see about getting a federal trademark; the person learns that they may search and apply for the mark on the USPTO website with or without an attorney; the person does the search immediately (attorneys charge for that) and finds the mark seems to be available in the class of goods they are interested in; the person applies for the mark immediately after finding out the fees at around $325 per class (attorneys charge 4 or 5 times that amount to apply). The immediate effect is this – the person accessed the information free so nothing went to the creator of that information (in this case the gov) and nothing went to the attorney that specializes in this area; money was NOT efficiently circulated in this transaction with enough strength to stimulate an economy!
9.Example Three; peer2peer sharing of media, knowledge and other information makes great community but there is a heavy price to pay for this community in a capitalistic environment if we don't find reasonable ways to monetize these activities. The immediate effect of peer2peer file-sharing is this – the peers accessed and obtained the media/information free so nothing (no money) went to the creator of that media/information and nothing went to the local community either; money was NOT efficiently circulated in this transaction with enough strength to stimulate an economy!
10.So where have all the jobs gone and why is the economy still struggling?
a. Living in an age of information and technology we've reduced the need for outside labor because we are a lot more knowledgeable in doing a lot more ourselves therefore reducing most business's need to hire more workers (no growth).
b. Living in an age of intellectual opportunity, we have not yet found and applied reasonable ways to monetize the information highway enough to compensate for other areas downsized because of our Internet intellect and economies.
Bottom line - market pricing for media/information on the Internet and other systems of mass communications must be addressed!
Musicians Beware of the Big Myth
NO COURT HAS EVER ACCEPTED THIS METHOD AS LEGAL PROOF OF COPYRIGHT, so don't waste your time! But here's what it's supposed to do (and why it doesn't work).The poor man's copyright (not copywrite) is when you mail either a CD, or sheet music, or some other physical form of your music, to yourself (or a friend) by regular, or certified mail.
The concept sounds reasonable: A few days later, when you get your songs or music back in the mail, you DON'T open the envelope. You just hide it away somewhere, in a drawer, a safety deposit box, with your underwear, and just wait until someday when someone tries to steal your song or music.
Then you whip out your sealed envelope, bring it to Court during your copyright infringement lawsuit, and let the Judge open it.
Then the Judge is supposed to think that the postmark on the envelope "proves" that the songs or music inside were in existence as of that date!
So, assuming the bad guy who has stolen your music started playing it after the date of your postmark, the Judge is supposed to tell the jury you win your copyright case, award you millions in damages and you go home, record your song and win American Idol!
Only problem is... as we've already said, there are NO courts we know of that have ever used a postmark from an envelope as proof in a copyright case!
Why doesn't it work you ask? Plenty of reasons:
In fact, there are SO many ways to tamper or manipulate the postmarked envelope, or the supposed "copyrighted" music inside, that we couldn't fit them all into just this one article.
But here are a few quick examples:
1.The most obvious way to "game" this method is to just mail yourself an empty envelope and just barely seal it (or don't seal it at all - the post office doesn't care if your envelope is sealed or not). Then when you get it back with its postmark, you just store it until you want to steal someone's song maybe years later.
Then, sometime in the future, you stick the words and music to someone else's song into your empty envelope with the old postmark and seal it up REAL GOOD.
And, presto, you've now got "proof" that you created that song way back on the date of the postmark -- since it's "obviously" been in that "sealed" envelope all that time!
And if you're really clever, you could also throw in an old newspaper article when you first send yourself your "sealed" envelope, with the same date as the postmark, "proving" even further that everything in that envelope must be from that old date...]
2.Or even if you didn't try to cheat, how do you plan on verifying the security of the sealed envelope? Bringing in scientific experts to verify you haven't played with the envelope seals? NO expert could testify to that (or when exactly the envelope was sealed or resealed)! Remember, the post office doesn't even check to see if envelopes are sealed!
3.Or, how are you going to prove the postmark stamp, or certified mail notice, is genuine? Find the post office person who stamped it? Yeah, right.
4.And then, of course, there's the problem of BIAS. Who will testify in court about preparing the envelope, sealing it, mailing it, getting it delivered back to your address, how it was handled and by whom, how it was never opened, etc. etc.? YOU? Your friends? Your relatives? Do you see the problem using people close to you?
YOU (and your friends and relatives) are NOT "independent, unbiased witnesses." You (and people connected with you) have an obvious stake in the outcome of any copyright case which involves YOU! Having someone who wants to win in court (or a friend) also be a witness in the same case is about the WORST thing you can do! Ask any lawyer... WITNESSES WITH SUCH BIASES HAVE NO CREDIBILITY IN COURT!. When it comes to copyright issues, you always want unbiased, independent verification as evidence!
So as you can see, there are endless ways to cheat using this "poor man's copyright" method. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. IT WON'T PROTECT YOU OR YOUR SONGS! Period.
For most composers, their songs are just too important to take such stupid chances leaving them unprotected with this myth known as the "poor man's copyright." Especially when you can get real protection so inexpensively, using an independent third-party registration service!
So either register your songs with a reputable, unbiased, private music registration service, or the Copyright Office. But whatever you do, DON'T bother with the "poor man's copyright"!
Understanding copyright infringement
Copyright is something at is very important when it comes to the protection of intellectual property. So basically, what is all the fuss around copyrighting? Well, to be short, it is a law that will protect any kind of work like literary works, musical works, movies, radio broadcasts and so on, from being redistributed or aired by someone else, which is not related in any way to them. These are called copyright laws and they will never let anyone use the content other have worked to create without the sole permission of the authors or creators of that certain content.These laws are usually very stringent and they will depend on the country where each of us will be living in. So yes, if you are dealing with Copyright Infringement you should know that you are in for some big trouble. Let us now take a look at the various types of works that can be a subject of Copyright Infringements and which we have already mentioned above:
Photographs, sculpture, graphic work, architecture and so on are part of the artistic works. This means that these works are very imposing when it comes to the visuals side. If you fall in this category and have such works under your sleeve, then you should know that they are very well protected by the law.
Musical works includes everything that is related to music and you should know that not only will your lyrics be the subject of copyrighted protection, but also the notes that you have used in your songs.
Books, poems, business letters, they are all part of the literary works and it would take a long time if we were to name all of them here. You will never have to worry about your works being plagiarized by others, as there are stringent laws that will protect you from these people.
When it comes to Infringement of copyright ,video recordings like movies, soundtracks, radio shows, they can also be very well covered by the law and even the soundtrack of a movie will be considered as part of the movie, even if it belongs to many artists. You are also in for the same benefits when it comes to sound recordings. Thus no one will be able to reproduce them without your permission. So here you are, some of the things that copyrighting laws will cover. If you will ever find yourself in the situation of having your content plagiarized or used without your permission, you can safely turn to the law as you will be the winner of the dispute. If you wish to do some Copyright search, then you can use a Copyright application available for free on the internet.
Music and Lyrics in Public domain contents
The only evidence that a musical work is in the Public domain in the USA is any music sheet publication that has a copyright dating to 1922 and earlier. Hundreds up to thousands of music sheet can be downloaded to any public domain music sites and you will be amaze on the large selection of PD sheet music reprints with complete original copyright information in various websites catering public domain.As a matter of fact you need sound recordings for commercial where you can found in Music and lyrics that has been published during 1922 or before than that it is already categorize in the Public domain in the United States. No one can claim ownership of a song when it is in the public domain therefore those works in the public domain can be used by anyone. However, keep in mind that music recordings are copyrighted protected because there are no sound recordings in the Public domain inside the U.S. If you want or perhaps need a music recording, you will have to record it yourself or acquire a license in the Royalty Free Music recording.
Because it doesn't have any protection law, you can do anything even making a business out of it without paying any royalties to worry. As long as you're using PD songs you can market them up into websites such as eBay for your own personal interest with the aid of course of a little creativity though. On the other hand, there are songs written after 1922 and some PD recordings in the United States but only few can be identified using some help of attorneys or perhaps right clearance agencies.
Here are the following keywords and websites in which you can look for the public domain music, song or lyrics that you want to know.
Note:
Music scores in the public domain are usually ditions published before 1923.
Online Music Scores
(IMSLP) / Petrucci Music Library
Meta-Sites for Locating Online Scores
IMSLP: Other music store websites
Online Music Scores- Acadia University, Nova Scotia
Individual Sites of Interest
Musical Scores- Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music
Variations prototype Online Musical Scores - Indiana University
Vocal Music
Art song Central
How to File a Copyright Application for Software
The greatest foremost issue for your software copyright application is get a deposition. This can be in whichever of individual document arrangements listed on copyright.gov and can be made ready using a word processing program.With the latest computer programs, you have individual alternatives for the deposition. These are:
1.The original 25 and end 25 pages of Source Code with parcels containing trade secrets obscured;
2.The original 10 and end 10 pages of source code along, with no obscured parcels;
3.The original 25 and end 25 pages of object code plus any 10 or more consecutive pages of source code, with no obscured parcels; or
4.For programs 50 pages or less in length, entire source code with trade secret parcels obscured.
Whatever alternative broadcasts the slightest quantity of trade secret code should be brought into play. The deposition will be reachable to competitors. Concurrently, you will want to be able to confirm copying.
A separate claim should be filed for each novel version of the software.
After making ready of the deposit, the balance of the claim is to some extent uncomplicated to fill in online.
You will be questioned if the software was a work made for hire and you will choose to take into account that question ahead of starting the claim. If you recompense someone to conceive the software for you, that does not as a matter of course signify that it is a work made for hire. You may still possess the software due to an assignment or contract exclusive of it being a "work made for hire." Usually speaking, if you are an employer and an employee wrote the program, it is doubtless a work made for hire. If you employed an independent contractor, it doubtless is not a work made for hire. Assess and contemplate Circular 9 from copyright.gov to answer the question of whether the software is a work made for hire.
According to copyright law, tenancy of the copyright primarily belongs with the developer. If you commission independent contractors to write software programs for you, it is significant to have a contract in place assigning title to you. If you don't retain such a contract, you may get the picture that you only possess one version of the software.
The basic elements found in Public Domain
Public Domain has been one of the hot topics not only among entrepreneurs but also among the general public specifically those who want to make an income out of it. In this article we will be discussing the basic elements found in public domain, which has been, categorize for particular reasons among entrepreneurs. As what we can encounter below, these categories are the ones that have been of beneficial in terms of finance.Those works that was publish in the U.S. before 1929 are all yours to use in any way you see it. Because the copyright protection law has been already expired, there will be no restriction from any of the materials that you will found there. Though the technology is not that really enticing compared to what we have now, the contents are timeless that you can appreciate the beauty of the works ever created before 1929. In addition, you may want to update and modify some of the contents by customizing the look, making the work the way you want it to be.
Those U.S. works that were not renewed that has been created between 1923 and 1963. If you're interested on the works belonging during this time, information's are always readily available in the some government publications as well as in the internet. Meaning to say for this cases, even if a work has a copyright notice but fail to renew the copyright protection, it will still belong to the public domain.
Those works that has been created by the government or governmental works. Yes, indeed those works in this category will have an unrestricted right for usage. Generally, under the law, those work performed by the U.S. federal government offices and other state offices belongs to the category of public domain. As long as the material falls under the governmental works, anyone can be free to exploit its usage.
Those foreign works. This works includes anything that has been published between the year 1909 and 1923 without any copyright notice. However, if just in case that you're still doubting whether a certain foreign works belongs to the category of public domain or not, don't worry because you can always check in the internet the validity of that certain work.
With public domain and creativity as your capital, you can produce a high profit business. As long as you know what's the basic elements found in the public domain, there is no doubt that you cannot dream big dreams. Your future will always be the product of the present things you are doing now. So what are you waiting for? Start now by following the resource box below.
Defining Copyright
Copyright can seem complicated and yet is so important to understand so that one doesn't infringe on another's rights.By definition, copyright is the set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. These rights can be licensed, transferred and/or assigned. Copyright lasts for a certain time period after which the work is said to enter the public domain. Copyright applies to a wide range of works that are substantive and fixed in a medium. Some jurisdictions also recognize "moral rights" of the creator of a work, such as the right to be credited for the work.
Copyright is literally, the right to copy, though in legal terms "the right to control copying" is more accurate. The term copyright means one has exclusive statutory rights to exercise control over copying and other exploitation of the works for a specific period of time. The copyright owner is given two sets of rights: an exclusive, positive right to copy and exploit the copyrighted work, or license others to do so, and a negative right to prevent anyone else from doing so without consent, with the possibility of legal remedies if they do.
When one wanted a copyright, it initially meant they were granted the exclusive right to copy a book or made allowances for anybody to use the book for various purposes such as making a translation, adaptation or public performance. At the time print on paper was the only format in which most text based copyrighted works were distributed.
The type of works, which were subject to copyright, expanded over time. Initially copyright only covered books. Then copyright law was revised in the 19th century to include maps, charts, engravings, prints, musical compositions, dramatic works, photographs, paintings, drawings and sculptures. Developments in technology again added to these and now include motion pictures, computer programs, sound recordings, Choreography and architectural works.
The purpose of copyright primarily has its basis in commerce but it is also for the sake of controlling one's creations. Under the Berne copyright convention, which almost all major nations have signed, every creative work is copyrighted the moment it is fixed in tangible form. No notice is necessary, though it helps legal cases. No registration is necessary, though it's needed later to sue. The copyright lasts until 70 years after the author dies. Facts and ideas can't be copyrighted, only expressions of creative effort.
Copyright law is different from country to country, and a copyright notice is required in about 20 countries for a work to be protected under copyright. Before 1989 all published works in the US had to contain a copyright notice, the (c) symbol followed by the publication date and copyright owner's name, to be protected by copyright. This is no longer the case and use of a copyright notice is now optional in the US, though they are still used.
Having a copyright on your work is not a complicated process, just one that requires a little research and knowledge.
How to republish Public Domain works?
Public Domain has been one of the most popular topics for infopreneurs or widely known as entrepreneurs, questions such as how to republish Public domain works are frequently asked to gain more income. Indeed, one can gain money just from being resourceful in using the contents of public domain and that is exactly what are we going to learn from this article.Republishing a work coming from Public domain is not that difficult, soon as you learn what your next action is you can have a 100% legal prevention from anyone stealing your work that also comes from the public domain. You need to understand that republishing something should not be 100 percent identical to the original one. In other words, what is likely to happen is that you personalize the work coming from the public domain to look like exactly what you want it to be. Say for example in a work that originally comes from a "paper and ink", changing the cover page into more of your personality or perhaps what-you-think-the-topic-should-be will be helpful to accentuate your own characteristics. It could also be significantly good if you could do something about the format of the text, paraphrasing some words to avoid plagiarism, changing some of its content as long as the idea is there is extravagantly wonderful in helping you republish your work coming from the public domain.
Of course, when you do this, it is given that the alterations that have been done can possibly be copyrighted by no other than you. Though the original text is in the public domain, the benefit that you can have is still the same just like anyone who wants to copyright their works.
Now there is some good question being frequently asked by lots of people, " Should I apply for putting copyright law on my work?" The answer will be one has used to register for putting copyright protection in their works. But after 1978, that is no longer the case. Now all you have to do is let people know that your work is copyrighted by you. It not a technical requirement for now in order to publish and republish some works to be published in the public domain. Because technically speaking as for now, registering one's work for copyright protection is optional. For those people who in not satisfied unless they put extra protection on their works then the copyright notice is always there to hand you their service.
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