If you are a designer, in today’s age, awareness of Intellectual Property law is penultimate. Despite the tedious process of dealing with copyright law and intellectual property, you should be able to defend the legitimacy of your work in court. Whether it is a startup that deals with AI aid in legal affairs or a business for Young Adult novels, the design they use is the face of their brand. And first impressions are what matter the most when showcasing your work. That is why digital marketers such as you are sought after dearly in today’s age.
Let us equip you with the required knowledge in order to protect your work as you progress through this blog. By the end of it, you will be empowered with the knowledge required for protecting Intellectual Property.
What is Intellectual Property and Copyright?
Before we explore how you can protect your intellectual property, you must know what Intellectual Property is.
Intellectual Property
The standard definition of intellectual property is that it is a type of property that encompasses products that have original human thought. In layman’s language, any product that has been created with the original mind is intellectual property. For example, the contents of a novel come under intellectual property because the author had an original idea and created the novel based on that idea. If someone writes a novel identical to or majorly similar to the novel, then it can amount to Intellectual Property Theft.
Copyright
Copyright is a type of intellectual property that grants creators exclusive rights to their original works. Basically, copyright allows you the right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, or licence your work.
Copyright is applied to a work automatically as soon as your work is created and fixed in a tangible form. Copyright covers a number of creative works such as:
- Books and articles
- Music
- Videos and multimedia presentations
- Visual art
- Software and digital content
You may ask, “Well, there should be a duration of the validity of a copyright, no?” Good news for all the creators out there, there is no duration to copyright. Copyright lasts as long as the creator´s life plus an additional 70 years in many countries. Meaning, as long as you are alive, you have exclusive rights over your work. And even if you pass away, your work will still be yours for an additional 70 years! This allows creators to enjoy the benefit of their work for an extended period.
Moreover, the copyright for your work is recognized by most nations due to unilateral treaties. Thus, with copyright being your partner, you can rest assured.
Significance of Copyright
The Risks of Intellectual Property Theft
The amount of things being published in the digital realm these days is baffling. Almost everything can be seen on the web. While this may be convenient, it also comes with the risk of theft. Intellectual property theft refers to the unauthorised use, exploitation, or blatant theft of creative works, ideas, and such.
If you go over the example of the author, the meaning of intellectual property theft can be understood clearly. An author publishes his work, and then, we publish a novel that is almost identical or very similar to the author’s. We committed intellectual property theft in this case.
Now, if this happens, it can hamper your endeavour heavily. Some of the risks that are associated with intellectual property theft are listed below:
- Financial Losses
- Damage to Reputation
- Legal Consequences
- Cybersecurity Vulnerability
Now, to protect yourself from such a disaster, copyright is applied to your work. Copyright prevents your work from intellectual property theft.
However, you can infringe a copyright accidentally. It is no secret that AI is being used for almost anything now, even creation. The problem with AI is that it often passes someone else’s work as its own, which is an infringement of copyright. It raises an ethical issue and an unaware content creator infringes on copyright. Thus, you should always be cautious when using any sort of shady content; always verify permissions and licences.
But if you find yourself in the victim position, you should opt for intellectual property litigation. It is a legal process used to resolve disputes over intellectual property rights. It also ensures justice and compensation are served to you for the damages you have suffered.
Steps to Protect Your Intellectual Property
1. Forming an LLC
LLC (Limited Liability Company) is a crucial element in running a business. Nowadays, entrepreneurs often run their operations through an LLC. But why so? To answer that question, we must know what an LLC is. LLC is a business structure that protects the assets of the owners from lawsuits and such due to the company’s debts and liabilities. In other words, if you ever find yourself in a potential copyright infringement, LLC can be your rescuer.
Moreover, establishing an LLC offers tax advantages through pass-through taxation, meaning double taxes are avoided.
If you want to establish an LLC and are concerned about how to form an LLC in Texas, Florida, California, or anywhere in the U.S., it is best to consult an expert so that you can also reap the benefits of an LLC.
2. Identify What to Copyright
First of all, you must be aware of what can be copyrighted. Refer to the section where we have listed the various creative works that copyright covers. Based on that, you can determine the type of creative work under which your creation falls. Furthermore, you should keep thorough records of the processes that led to the final creation, such as drafts and notes. These help to establish ownership of your creation.
3. Register Your Copyright
While it is true that copyright is applied automatically upon creation and fixation in a tangible form, registering your work comes with a few significant benefits.
- Statutory Damages: If you register your work within three months of publication with the U.S. Copyright Office, you can claim statutory damages and Intellectual Property attorney´s fees.
- Public Record: Prima Facie evidence (evidence that appears to be sufficient at first glance) strengthens the ownership of your work. Registering your work creates a public record of your copyright. And that is how you get prima facie evidence of your copyright.
For the sake of simplicity, we are going to go over the registration process in three steps.
- Application Form: You should fill out the application form for your type of work. If your work is a literary work, fill out the form according to the type.
- Filing Fee: Depending on the filing method and the type of work, you have to pay a non-refundable fee.
- Deposit Copy: The Copyright Office requires a copy of the work you are registering. The last step of the process is the submission of the copy to the office.
And congratulations! Your copyright has been registered.
4. Monitor your Content
Just because you have taken a few steps does not mean you are completely safe from intellectual property theft. You, as the owner, also have the role of conducting regular checks on the web to see if your content is being used without your permission.
That does not imply you have to go through the tedious process of regularly surfing the internet in search of unauthorised use of your content. Many digital tools can aid you such as Google Alerts and Digital Rights Management (DRM).
Conclusion
Now that you have reached the end of the blog, you should be equipped with the required knowledge for protecting your Intellectual Property. To wrap things up, let us go over a summary of what we have discussed in this blog.
Copyright is your best ally in a world where original ideas are easily stolen and exploited for personal gains. Copyright grants you exclusive rights over the fabulous digital marketing strategy you made or any creative work. Moreover, you do not even need to go through a tiresome process of applying copyright; it is applied automatically.
However, it is certainly not enough to protect your intellectual property on the web. The internet is overflowing with content, making the risk of intellectual property theft quite high. And unknown to you, you might also find yourself infringing a copyright if you do not verify the permissions and licences of the content you are using. If you find your work being used without your permission, you should take the legal route to get justice and compensation for the damages.
But, just knowing the know-how of intellectual property is not enough; practical steps from your side are also needed to strengthen the protection. These steps involve registering your copyright, forming an LLC, and monitoring your content. There are many other steps that you can take to protect your intellectual property, but you need to dig for that a bit.
In conclusion, being aware of intellectual property and copyright can save you from a lot of mundane processes and headaches. Know the right things about your work and tools to protect the result of your creativity and hard work.
This blog aimed to spread awareness of intellectual property, and we hope we succeeded in that.
