Trademark & Copyright Laws

Copyright Protection

• Copyrights protect the copyright holder's rights to distribute, perform, reproduce, display, and adapt the copyrighted work. The copyright holder may enforce civil damages against anyone who violates these rights.
  
  

Copyrighting a Work

• Under U.S. law, copyright protection is automatically extended the moment that an original work is reduced to tangible form (ideas and unrecorded oral works are not protected, for example). There is no need to place a copyright notice on the work, and the work need not be registered or published. Nevertheless, copyright notices and registration with the U.S. Copyright Office are both good ideas in order to provide evidence to support a claim of copyright.
  
  

Duration of Copyrights

• The duration of a copyright varies according to who holds the copyright, when the copyright was created, and whether a copyright notice appears on copies of the work. In the case of an individual copyright holder, in most cases a copyright endures for 70 years beyond the death of the original author. If a company holds a copyright (as in the case of a work for hire), copyright protection can extend for 120 years in some cases. After the copyright expires, the work enters the public domain and may be used with proper attribution (the novels of Jane Austen, for example).
  
  

Trademark Protection

• A trademark protects the exclusive use of the trademarked design, symbol, phrase or word, and the trademark holder is entitled to civil damages against violators. Trademark protection generally extends only to other products in the same general category--"McDonald's Dry Cleaning," for example, would probably not be a trademark violation, but "McBurger's Roast Beef Sandwiches" might well be. The operative legal principle is to prevent consumers from confusing one product with another, because this amounts to a giveaway of the trademark holder's business goodwill to a competitor.
  
  

Obtaining a Trademark

• Trademark rights can be obtained by consistent use of the mark, with no need for registration. However, since a number of legal benefits accrue to registered trademark holders, registration of a trademark is a good idea. It is also a good idea to use the symbol "TM" with a trademark--the trademark need not be registered to use this symbol, and it provides notice to competitors that the mark is being claimed as a trademark. The ® symbol can only be used with a registered (not pending) trademark. Without registration, a trademark is protected only if it is actually used. In order to be registered, the applicant must establish either prior use or an intent to use it in the future.
  
  

Trademark Duration

• An unregistered trademark is valid for as long as it is consistently used. A registered trademark must be consistently used and must be renewed periodically in order to remain valid. As long as these requirements are met, the trademark can be protected indefinitely.