5 Legal Protections You Need To Know

I always find that legal questions arise after an entrepreneur experiences or perceives bad actions to their content business. However, proactive planning can mitigate or even eliminate those potential threats.

In her CEX presentation, Sharon Toerek, who focuses on the law for creatives in her firm Toerek Law, shares five things entrepreneurs should know and do to protect their intellectual property.

1. Know what copyright is and how it works: Copyright gives rights to a creator, aka the author, for their original, fixed, tangible creative work. Those rights include selling, licensing, displaying, copying, reproducing, or creating a derivative work.

Copyrights are good for 70 years from the death of the creator or 120 years from the date of creation.

The creator owns the copyright unless they created the work while employed by another, are subject to an agreement giving ownership to another, or sell or licenses the work to another party.

If you want to hold an entity responsible for infringing your copyright, you must register it before you can file a lawsuit seeking statutory damages and attorney fees. Visit www.Copyright.gov to apply. The site also has a wealth of learning resources, too.

2. Recognize a trademark and its protections: Trademarks are brand identifiers, such as words, logos, packaging, etc., that identify the source/seller of a product or service. They are specific to a topical category. 

Trademarks last forever – the only intellectual property that does – as long as they are used in commerce. You just need to renew it in 10-year increments.

You can file for trademarks at USPTO.gov. Though you can do it yourself, legal assistance can be helpful as the process can be complicated.

The USPTO site also has a search tool so you can look to see if your chosen trademark is available.

3. Give legal permission for use: Entrepreneurs can license their content – giving limited rights for an entity to use it. For example, if you enter into a deal with a brand to use your podcast episode or book excerpt, you should put the licensing arrangement in a formal agreement. It should include:

• Duration of license
• Permissible uses of content
• Any requirements of attribution to you as a creator

4. Collaborate with an agreement: A written document can seem unnecessary when you and another entrepreneur come together to create something. But it’s essential to prevent misunderstandings or worse conflicts.

Among the questions to be answered in the collaboration agreement:

• Determine in writing who will own the rights to the work:
• Does each party own its contributions to the work?
• Do both parties own equal rights in the completed work?
• Can either party sell or license the work to third parties?
• How will the parties divide responsibility and revenue?
• Who will be listed as the author in any IP registration filings?
• Will you need to cross-license your brands to one another for the deal?

5. Forego sampling: Memes with copyrighted images, tribute content, and other examples of sampling someone else’s work are not permitted. Unless you have the creator’s permission, you cannot use their content. In a commercial or business context, there is no such thing as fair use, a legal defense often used in an intellectual property infringement claim.

Addressing legal matters before potential violations occur leaves you and your business better prepared when a transgression occurs.

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