Rights and Trademark

Registration, copyright and trademark are extremely important in business, because it identifies the ability of a person to make money off of art, literature and inventions. Discussing the difference between copyright and registration in another article, this article explains finer points of registering a copyright claim with the United States Government.

Initially an individual thinks of a business idea. In business a product or service is offered to consumers in order to make money. The originator of an idea registers original ideas. A business owner might want to register exact wording of their mission and vision along with other ideas; however, most operational, spreadsheet and technical information is public domain. There is no need to register a resume, because it follows a standard format and the content is based on individual work experience, skills and education.

Public domain is everything that has an expired copyright or registration and everything real that everyone can see or experience themselves. A few years ago, a company wanted the rights to "American Gothic;" however, the copyright and registration is still owned by the family though the original artist died. An artist bravely went forward with information on copyright and hired models with similarities to the couple in "American Gothic." They changed the background, clothes and everything else so there is no copyright overlap because it is thirty percent different and they captured the likeness of paid models not "American Gothic."

Not everything in the world can be copyrighted or registered. Two people standing in front of a building, is not a unique situation. A lot of people have stood in front of buildings. In fact, crowds and even one person have stood in front of buildings. It is dissimilar; however, standing tall, looking stoic, holding farm tools in front of a barn looking house is unique. The composition and combined details make it unique. Skulls and hearts are not particularly original. They have been around forever. Composition, color, unique detail, placement and other issues identify if artwork was plagiarized, inspired or completely original. Unless it is obviously plagiarized it is frequently better to let it go. Nothing is completely original; otherwise, the person who made hearts that shape will sue you or it will be found it is a part of public domain and no one owns the copyright.

An obvious case of plagiarism involves a larger body of work, coincidence or direct copies. I am working making t-shirts. A series of characters consist of a toad, skull and elephant. If an animated show includes similar characters there is reasonable belief they ripped me off despite visual and name changes between the characters. However, if there is no provable relationship or they were simply inspired by the characters as a background for their own personal viewpoint there was no copyright infringement.

A character in Pocket Watch is called "Skull Girl." Skull Girl is a play on words like "School Girl." If a band wanted to use the name Skull Girl, there is no copyright infringement especially if they market with a feminine skull, minus the twist curls, with streaks of green in the background. Trademarks for a band and titles for art are identifiably different. However, if the same band chose my shirts for their onstage persona, I could sue them for standard artist fees since it helps make money for them. Fortunately, I have a small ad on each so if they were advertising me simultaneously what they owe would be negotiable. If they took the image and pasted it on their clothes they would owe the professional rate for hiring an artist. This includes a base fee to the copyright of my art and percentage of profits. Remember it is a percentage of the profits, not the sum total of earnings. Profits are earnings minus costs of materials.

Trademarks identify a small group of words for branding. Two words are not available for copyright, unless advertising a business. Usually writing is identified through nuance, concept and exact wording. Trademarks can be as few as one word. Names to identify a business as a unique entity is protected, yet a person can modify it with a word or two without infringing on trademarks. Someone might already have a copyright on "Rights and Trademark," yet they do not have rights to "Quid Pro Grow: Rights and Trademark."
Even after registering a trademark, people are able to use it as a title for songs, novels and other things without abridging a trademark. It restricts them from using it as a name for their business. They could add one word to clarify and differentiate the brand. Then it is up to who can market their product better.
There are things in the world that cannot be legally own like a color, major event, appearance and legal name. While this is true, there is demand to remain honest and not use other people's work as a blue print to create something else, even though logically that is impossible, because we learn from books, similar experiences and culture. Uniqueness must be apparent.

When writing, drawing, creating or inventing I use nrs-online.com. It is low cost for five years. They register document, images and music. Then I apply for a copyright claim on copyright.gov. It costs $35. I place everything into a file. Files relate to the finished product intended to be marketed in a single use like book or website along with one file citing dates of registration. The earliest date is the most important because it identifies who thought of it first. Also include spreadsheets, worksheets, generic information and additional modifications through editing further prove originality of an artist.

When purchasing rights to market someone else's original work to sell, an additional contract signed by both parties that states terms of use is also included as a file that will be zipped and registered online. In several cases of copyright if the marketer is unable to make money for the originator within a year and then rights revert back to the originator of the idea. Additional information includes trademarks because even though they are registered in a common database copyright assists in legitimizing the trademark.

These steps save time and money. In the hypothetical event of a band suing me for "Skull Girl" my rights to the title are preserved. My registration and trademark would prove they stole from me. Perhaps we would not owe or gain anything I just do not want to pay lawyer fees; therefore, especially when working in a freelance occupation always register, copyright and trademark work so people buying your product are also protected. It is the nice thing to do.

Related Article
Doing Business
Establishing a Creative Reputation
Portfolio Protection

External Link
USA Copyright Office
National Registration Service
Pocket Watch