Copyright and Trademark Protection for Online Work

Copyrights

A lot of people wonder how to get copyright and trademark protection for their online work...but the good news is once you create original content and place it in a tangible medium (like in writing or on tape) you typically have the copyright to that work! So if you’ve created original content and placed it on your website…you already have the copyright to that material. Once you create your original work, you can prevent others from copying it for a period equal to your lifetime plus 70 years. Examples of content that can be copyrighted are written words, emails, software source code, video games, architectural designs, and choreographed performances. You even have the copyright to something you doodle on a napkin for example.

Keep in mind that to have a copyright to something it must be original work. You can’t just collect a bunch of records and say you have the copyright to that work.

If you want to further protect your work you can register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office. When you register your work you establish a prima facie (a Latin expression used in law meaning “on first face;” creates a rebuttable presumption). When you have a prima facie, it makes it easier to sue someone who has infringed on your copyright because the prima facie establishes that you are the originator of the work (as long as you file five years after creating your original work). The quickest and cheapest way to file a copyright registration is by going to http://www.copyright.gov/register/. This will only cost $35 and you don’t need a lawyer.

When you have a copyright you can prevent others from displaying, recreating, distributing, or reproducing your work. However, you can sell your copyright work which can then be resold by your buyer. The buyer cannot make copies and sell those, however.

*note--A great website that helps with copyright and trademark protection for online work is copyscape.com (it’s free!). You can type in your URL at copyscape.com and it will scan your website and displays any websites that are potentially copying your material.

Trademarks

Trademarks are used to protect names, words, and symbols that people associate with a business. For example, my logo in the upper left-hand side of my website is a trademark.

Registration is not necessary to acquire a trademark…you just have to create and use your trademark. The way you lose your trademark is if another company starts to use your trademark and you are made aware of this and, in response, do nothing to protect your trademark (ex. sue the other website/company).

If you would like to register your trademarks you can do so with the USPTO. If you do this, it guarantees that you can sue if someone uses your trademark. Also, once you register your trademark you can use the ® symbol. You are not allowed to use the ® symbol otherwise. Instead, you can use the ™ symbol to make your claim on your trademark. *note--If you do decide to register your trademark with the USPTO, make sure to renew your trademark between the 5^th and 6^th year after you first registered…and then every 10 years after that.

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*note—YouCreateWebsite.com does not provide legal advice and a lawyer did not write this article. This information is not guaranteed to be correct and if you want legal advice please consult a lawyer.

Sources—

Miller, Jentz. Fundamentals of Business Law. Thomson West, 2007. Print.