Individuals and business owners often need to protect their valuable work via copyright. Oftentimes people are tripped up about what can be copyrighted and what protections copyright registration affords.

Copyright is a form of intellectual property protection that is granted to authors of, “original works of authorship," and is available for published and unpublished works. Works that can be copyright protected include literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. Works that cannot be protected under copyright are facts, ideas, systems, and methods of operation.

The benefits of registering your original work(s) of authorship with the United States Copyright Office to receive copyright protection include: (1) registration creates a public record of the copyright claim and a certification of registration, (2) before an infringement suit may be filed, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin, (3) after successful litigation, registered works are eligible for statutory damages and attorney’s fees, if registration occurs within three months after the publication of the work, (4) before or within five years of the publication, registration is considered sufficient evidence in a court of law, and (5) registration also allows the owner of a copyright to record the registration with the U.S. Customs Service for protection against the importation of infringing copies.

-by Gloria Mason, Legal Assistant

We can prepare and file your US Copyright registration application. Should you want to learn more about this post or our services, please visit www.DandridgeLaw.com or email ContactUs@DandridgeLaw.com for a FREE Initial Consultation.

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Labels: copyright, copyright application, copyright protection, copyright registration

The United States Copyright Office (USCO) recently introduced a new web-based electronic filing system that was intended to make the filing and processing of copyright applications easier and faster; however, that has not been the case.

Susequent to instituting a $52 million electronic process designed to speed up the way authors and others register copyrights for literary, musical or visual work, the USCO tripled its processing time from six to eighteen months on average.

The USCO processes more than 550,000 applications per year, most of which are filed by mail. The USCO is optimistic that it will eventually cut processing time below 6 months once applicants become familiar with and begin to use the electronic application process en masse.

Labels: copyright, copyright application

Labels: copyright, e-business, e-commerce, trademark

Although the general rule is that the person who creates a work is the author of that work, there is an exception to that principle: the copyright law defines a category of works called “works made for hire.” If a work is “made for hire,” the employer, and not the employee, is considered the author. The employer may be a firm, an organization, or an individual. (See U.S. Copyright Office Circular 9)

A work made for hire according to Section 101 of the copyright statute is: 1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or 2) a work specially ordered or comissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work . The author of a work made for hire is the employer or other person for whom the work has been prepared and should be named as the author. How does a work made for hire effect copyright ownership? The owner of the copyright of a work made for hire is the employer or the other person for whom the work was prepared.

For more information, see U.S. Copyright Office Circular 9, Works Made for Hire under the 1976 Copyright Act at: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ9.html

Please contactus@dandridgelaw.com should you have any questions regarding this post or our services.

Labels: copyright, employee copyright ownership, employer copyright ownership

In today's high-tech world more and more people have business and personal websites. Some people use ready-made templates and others are created by site owners and web designers. What types of website items warrant copyright protection? The following links provide some answers:
www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html
www.copyright.gov/circs/circ66.pdfwww.piercelaw.edu/thomasfield/ipbasics/copyright-on-the-internet.php

Please contactus@dandridgelaw.com should you have any questions regarding this post or our services.

Labels: attorney, copyright, copyright protection, lawyer, Website

Taken directly from LegalZoom.com’s website, their disclaimer reads, “LegalZoom is not a law firm, and the employees of LegalZoom are not acting as your attorney. LegalZoom's legal document service is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.” It further reads that, “LegalZoom is prohibited from providing any kind of advice, explanation, opinion, or recommendation to a consumer about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, selection of forms or strategies.”

If you use LegalZoom.com or other do-it-yourself document preparation service with a legal-sounding name to prepare your Nonprofit, Trademark or Copyright application, you run the risk of filing an extremely flawed document. As these types of services merely take otherwise publicly available forms and plug in the blanks with information you provide to them, without the benefit of legal advice and guidance, you may as well give a go at it yourself. Should you choose to have your documents prepared this way, you run a huge risk of filing a flawed application, for which the IRS, US Patent and Trademark Office and Copyright Office may reject for legal reasons outside the scope of this non-legal service.

See the following links for LegalZoom Customer Complaints, Allegations of Consumer Fraud and Critiques

LegalZoom Mistake In Forming Non-Profit Delaware Corporation
LegalZoom Deceptive Trademark Practice
LegalZoom Applied For A Copyright and Never Received It
LegalZoom.com Faces Consumer Fraud Class Action Over Trademark Filing Fees
Zoom Past LegalZoom
What is LegalZoom?

Labels: attorney, copyright, lawyer, LegalZoom, LegalZoom.com, nonprofit, trademark

For songwriters, protection of their valuable work is a number one concern. The hard work and artistry that go into creating song lyrics may earn its author great fame and riches. Yet, some mega companies, superstars and public figures attempt to pawn the work of an unsuspecting songwriter and pass it off as their own. Before a songwriter(of a work that originates in the US) may sue an infringing party, the original work(s) of authorship must be registered with the US Copyright Office. A songwriter will not be able to file an infringement action against the infringing party if that particular work is not registered with the US Copyright Office. Registration with the Copyright Office allows the oftentimes powerless songwriter to stand up to seemingly untouchable infringers.

See Jackson Browne sues John McCain and Republican Party:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/singersongwriter-jackson-browne-files-suit/story.aspx?guid=%7B6D3CA8B0-C98E-47F6-9499-56D69DFCDEC6%7D&dist=hppr
See Tim McGraw faces song infringement action for ‘Everywhere’:
http://blog.cmt.com/2008-08-06/tim-mcgraw-copyright-infringement-suit-grabbing-attention/
See Kid Rock accused of biting '80s synth tune for 'Cowboy':
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1453539/20020422/kid_rock.jhtml
See Beyonce faces song infringement action for ‘Baby Boy’:
http://www.filewrapper.com/index.cfm/2007/12/26/Fifth-Circuit--Beyonc-song-does-not-infringe-songwriters-copyright

Labels: copyright, infringement, songwriter