Protecting Your Creative Works: A Beginner’s Guide to Copyright Law

What is a Copyright?

If you own or buy a business, or if you are starting up a business in Central Florida, you must protect your intellectual property. Full legal protection includes registering copyrights for the creative works your business produces. A Daytona Beach copyright lawyer can help.

What, exactly, is a copyright? What makes registering a copyright so important for a business owner? How does a registered copyright protect a business owner’s intellectual property?

If you create a work of literature, film, or music, copyright registration gives you the exclusive right to reproduce the work and to distribute, perform, or exhibit that work. Copyrights also protect architectural drawings, computer software, and almost every other type of creative work.

What Does Copyright Registration Accomplish?

When a creative work is preserved in a fixed medium – as a manuscript, drawing, videotape, or computer file, for example – the creator automatically has exclusive “common law” rights to the work. Nevertheless, to protect these rights fully, your copyright should be registered.

A registered copyright rewards creativity and provides a creator with economic and commercial advantages. If you own a central Florida business that produces, licenses, or distributes any type of creative works, you should take advantage of the protection that registered copyrights provide.

Legal registration of a copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office acts as a “constructive notice” to the public that the copyright holder has exclusive rights to a particular creative work, and it gives the copyright holder the legal power to seek damages in civil court if the copyright is infringed.

How Will a Copyright Attorney Help You?

Copyright registration puts a solution in place before a legal problem arises. Your business should register the copyrights of its employee handbooks, websites, original training materials, and any other original print or digital materials that your business creates.

Copyright registration through the U.S. Copyright Office is the best way to protect the creative works a business produces, licenses, or distributes. A Daytona Beach copyright attorney can answer your questions about copyright registration and register your copyrights on your behalf.

What Copyrights Do You Need to Register?

A registered copyright legally protects a creative work, but copyright registration may not protect the ideas or themes expressed in the work. The intellectual property that your business creates – and that needs full legal copyright protection – may include:

1. Literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic creations and recordings
2. Movies, videos, and photography
3. Graphic, sculptural, and other visual creations
4. Computer programs, software, and games
5. Architectural drawings and blueprints
6. Websites, employee manuals, training materials, and other original creations

Copyright registration lets copyright holders – businesses and individuals – profit from the work that has been created. Without copyright registration, there is no effective way to assert or legally enforce exclusive ownership of a creative work or to protect the work from theft or infringement.

What Are a Copyright Owner’s Rights? Do Copyrights Expire?

If your business in Central Florida creates, distributes, or licenses creative works, you should register the copyrights for those works with the assistance of a Daytona Beach copyright attorney. The federal Copyright Act of 1976 gives copyright owners these exclusive legal rights:

1. the right to distribute, reproduce, and publicly perform or display a copyrighted work
2. the right to create new and derivative works based on your copyrighted work

Digital works are protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. A registered copyright protects a work created by an individual for 70 years after the creator’s death. Work created anonymously, pseudonymously, or for hire is protected for 95 years from the publication date or for 120 years from the creation date, whichever is shorter.

What if Your Copyright is Infringed?

If a person or business violates your copyright owner’s rights, that individual or business may be liable for copyright infringement, and you must be represented by a lawyer who will ensure your interests are protected. If you sue for copyright infringement, you and your lawyer must prove:

1. The party being sued (the defendant) had access to your copyrighted work.
2. The infringing material was taken from your copyrighted work.

If you and your Daytona Beach copyright lawyer can prove a defendant accessed your copyrighted work, and if the defendant produced material substantially similar to your work, the defendant may be ordered to cease the infringement and to compensate you for damages.

What if You Are Accused of Copyright Infringement?

Copyright law is difficult, and it applies uniquely to each copyright infringement case. If you or your business is accused of copyright infringement, you’ll need advice and representation from a Central Florida attorney who has considerable experience handling copyright infringement cases.

In the business world, copyright issues frequently emerge regarding slogans, mottos, logos, recipes, and similar intellectual properties. Your copyright attorney will help you protect your rights, stop others from infringing your copyright, and if necessary, take your case to court.

Copyright infringement cases in Florida are almost always resolved in private, out-of-court negotiations, but if no settlement is possible, your copyright attorney may recommend filing a lawsuit and seeking monetary compensation.

Most copyright infringement cases are civil cases with plaintiffs who seek monetary damages. Criminal cases are more serious and involve substantial, deliberate infringement, often for personal gain. The nature of the infringement determines whether it’s a civil or criminal matter.

Why Do Business Owners Choose Lankford Law Firm?

If your Florida business produces creative works, you need to have a lawyer on your team who has considerable experience with intellectual property protection and copyright law. Lankford Law Firm helps business owners obtain the intellectual property protection they need.

Lankford Law Firm handles copyright and trademark registrations and defends its clients against intellectual property infringement and theft. Attorney Melody Lankford represents independent contractors and start-up owners as well as mid-sized businesses and corporations.

She offers sound legal advice and insights that can protect and grow your business. Attorney Melody Lankford represents and advises business owners throughout Volusia County and across Central Florida. Schedule a consultation today by calling Lankford Law Firm at 850-888-8992.