January 1, 2019 marks a significant date in US copyright law. On this “Public Domain Day 2019” thousands of works from 1923 previously protected under US copyright laws became public domain. Duke Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain reviews “Public Domain Day 2019” and has similar archives going back to 2010. You may […]
Posts by
New Circulars from Copyright Office
In September 2017 the US Copyright Office began releasing a new series of copyright circulars that provide simple explanations of US copyright law on specific topics. These circulars are divided into seven categories: Foundations of Copyright (10 Circulars, including two in Spanish) Office Practices and Procedures (17 Circulars, including one in Spanish) Copyright Concepts (10 […]
Songwriters sue the DOJ
Songwriters sue the DOJ A new ruling by the Department of Justice (DOJ) will affect the process involved with clearing rights for copyrighted song lyrics. In response, the recently created (2015) Songwriters of North America (SONA) that represents songwriters sue the DOJ for depriving their members of their property without due process of law. This organization has among its members […]
Format Matters with Permissions Reque...
Copyright—How Format Matters Format rules your permission requests, not your ownership protection. You own your content in any tangible form. Finished your work? You may want to federally register it in order to give yourself the benefit of being able to sue in federal court. You may think that since your work is in several formats […]
Animal Copyrights cont.
Naruto is not monkeying around folks! The saga of the monkey Naruto’s copyright battle continues. This blog is about more than animal copyrights, however. Regardless of the outcome, there is an obvious lesson for all publishers in Naruto’s case and its appeal regarding the copyrights to the photos taken by the monkey. This case, (discussed below) […]
Timely copyright registration is esse...
Timely Copyright Registration is Essential Timely copyright registration is essential. All of us, whether authors, bloggers, or companies with a web presence, can let an important step in publishing fall through the cracks. No one may be aware of a problem until they are slammed into the brick wall of infringement-without-an-expedient–means-to-address-it. Often companies and bloggers with […]
Wikipedia a springboard, not a crutch
We often encounter client work that, in our eyes, relies too heavily on Wikipedia. Some “borrowers” copy Wikipedia content into their work without understanding the responsibilities and the consequences of such heavy borrowing. Authors, bloggers, and contributors to articles, books, and blogs are responsible for the intellectual property in their work. It is important to be aware of […]
Trademark vs Copyright
A common point of confusion for our publishing clients is trademark vs copyright. Most people seem to know that patents, another type of intellectual property (IP), cover inventions, but most do not know what protections are afforded by copyright and trademark. Both trademarks and copyrighted works are IP assets that are offered protection in the U.S. Constitution, but they differ significantly. […]