Intellectual Property 101
By Danielle LeFloreCertified Paralegal
Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana.-Bill Gates
What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property refers toanything created by the mind.
They don’t know you.
This includes:
Literary works
Inventions
Movies and photographs
Architectural designs
Choreography
What is intellectual property?
They don’t know you.
Copyrights
Trademarks and Service Marks
Patents
Trade Secrets
Types of Intellectual Property
They don’t know you.Types of Intellectual Property
Intellectual property can be owned, sold, transferred, licensed or given away.
They don’t know you.
A copyright protects original works of authorship such as novels, screenplays, songs, musical scores and photographs.
A copyright grants exclusive rights and protections to the creator of an original work.
What is a Copyright?
They don’t know you.What is a Copyright?
The work must be fixed in a tangible form of expression, such as paper, video or audio tape, film, or computer hard drive for copyright protection.
Copyright protection is regulated by federal law.
They don’t know you.
Copyright protection begins the moment original work is created and fixed in a tangible form.
Copyright Protection
They don’t know you.Copyright Protection
A copyright lasts for the life of the creator, plus 70 years after the creator’s death.
For work made for hire a copyright lasts for 95 years from its first publication or 120 years from its first creation.
They don’t know you.Copyright Protection
To assert copyright protection in the event of suspected infringement--particularly in the absence of registration with the Library of Congress--include a copyright notice on the work.
They don’t know you.Copyright Protection
Examples:
© 2013 McKinney & Associates
Copyright 2013 McKinney & Associates
They don’t know you.
Work made for hire is work created by an employee within the scope of his or her employment.
In most instances the employer is considered the copyright owner, unless a separate agreement specifying otherwise has been reached between the parties.
What is a Work Made for Hire?
They don’t know you.Work Made for Hire
Work such as a proposal, blog post, presentation or work report created while employed at a company is owned by the company, not the employee who created the work.
They don’t know you.Additional Resources
United States Copyright Office (copyright registration)
United States Patent and Trademark Office (for patent and trademark registration)
Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School (Title 17 of United States Code, Copyrights)
To learn more about McKinney & Associates, visit www.mckpr.com
McKinney & Associates was founded in 1990 with a commitment to social justice that has prevailed for more than 20 years. From the
beginning, McKinney passionately and skillfully practiced public relations with a conscience for local, national and international organizations.
@mckpr
facebook.com/mckpr
youtube.com/mckinneypr
Recommended
