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Free Website Content - Copyrights and Trademarks
Copyrights and Trademarks
By Sharon Housley
Copyright is a type of intellectual property.
A copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted by the
government for a limited time to protect the particular
form, way or manner in which an idea or information is expressed.
Copyright is the legal protection given to artists or producers
of creative work which protects them against unauthorized
copying of their work.
All copyrighted material must be produced
in a tangible medium (photo, paper, CD, or video). Concepts,
processes and ideas can not be copy protected in the United
States. If a statement is made yet not recorded or published
it is not protected under the US copyright laws. In other
words things must be recorded in a physical form in order
to be protected under the copyright laws in the United States.
Any creative works that meets the definition
is copy protected. If the creative works was produced after
1978, it is protected for the length of the authors life
plus 70 years.
In the US original works can be registered
to be copy protected at the US Copyright Office. If a creative
work is not registered at the US Copyright Office, it is
still considered copy protected. Registration does however
make it easier to defend a copyright. Use of a copyright
notice is encouraged to be included with creative works
because it informs the public that the work is protected
by copyright, identifies the copyright owner, and shows
the year of first publication.
In the US the Copyright Act of 1976 governs
all US copyrights. Additionally the US has treaties with
a number of other countries that assist copyright holders
with protection in foreign countries. Unfortunately, there
is no international copyright law that grants immediate
protection to copyright holders. That said, most developed
countries do respect and offer some form of copyright protection.
These foreign copyright protections have been made easier
through treaties and conventions, namely the Universal Copyright
Convention in 1955 and the Berne Convention in 1989. Nations
that participate in these conventions respect copyrights
from other participating countries.
Copyrights are often confused with trademarks.
Trademarks are also a type of intellectual property. Trademarks
are any symbols, words, number, picture, or design, used
by manufacturers or merchants to identify their own goods
and distinguish them from goods made or sold by others.
Company logos are an excellent example of a creative that
can be protected through a trademark. Trademarks are also
known as service marks. Trademarks are registered with the
USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office), they
are not registered with the US Copyright Office.
Unlike copyrights, protection of unregistered
trademarks may be limited to their specific geographical
area. Trademarks must be actively used in order to be considered
"defensible".
Technology is challenging the laws with new
venues and mediums falling under the protection of copyright
and trademark laws.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and
podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll
http://www.recordforall.com
audio recording and editing software.
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This article may be used freely in opt-in
publications and websites, provided that the resource box
is included and the links are active. A courtesy copy of
the issue or a link to any online posting would be greatly
appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
.
Additional articles available for publication available
at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm
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