HOW TO PROTECT YOUR COPYRIGHT WORK AGAINST UNAUTHORIZED USE?

The Copyright Act of 1976 has been enacted to grant legal protection for “original works of authorship” that have been fixed in a “tangible medium of expression.” This implies that copyright protection is applicable to a wide range of works whose ideas have been expressed through words, pictures, or sounds. Copyright is very relevant to other intellectual property rights, such as trademark or patent, in that it provides individuals and businesses with a way to protect their unique works against infringement or unauthorized appropriation by others. For eligible works created after 1978, copyright protection extends for the life of the owner plus an additional 70 years. For works with corporate authors (e.g., the author of the work was an employee of a corporation and it was a work for hire), copyright protection lasts for either 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever term is shorter.

There is a misconception that a person actually has to register the copyright, or that they must include a copyright symbol (©) on their work, before it can be copyright protected. However, the reality is that the moment you created your original work, it was copyrighted for most legal motives. Therefore, when filing for official copyright registration it can provide some additional protection, such as a public record of the copyright that might discourage others from ripping off your job, the straightforward fact is that your work is still protected from unauthorized use even if it is not officially registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Nevertheless, although you will need to register your copyright before seeking to enforce it and filing a lawsuit, the registration application can be submitted after you discover the unlawful copyright exploitation. Similarly, your work does not need to be published in order to establish ownership and qualify for copyright protection.

WHAT IS DEFINITION OF AN “COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT”?

As the copyright holder over your work, you have the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, or display that work, as well as the right to make derivative works. Nevertheless, if you own the copyright to the original works that you created, it is still possible that someone might attempt to make use of your work without permission. When this happens, it is known as “copyright infringement.” It is vital to understand that a copyright violation can happen even when the violation does not require an identical copy or reproduction of your work. As long as there is a “substantial similarity” between the works, courts have typically found that a misappropriation happened.

Below are a few common examples of copyright infringement:

• Photographs being used on a website or in a catalog that sells commercial products.
• My original drawings or sketches were reproduced in a book, magazine, or other commercial publication.
• A competing clothing company is using my original designs.
• A jeweler is selling jewelry that was based on my original design.
• A toy manufacturer is using my toy design for their product.
• Computer source code that I wrote is being used for another company’s video game.
• Original content that I created for my commercial website was copied and then used by a competing website.