Entrepreneurial attorney and business leader Tom Jurgensen is also managing shareholder of the Catalyst Law Group APC, a technology-focused law firm based in San Diego. His specialties include intellectual property, strategy and portfolio development, patents, trademarks, licensing, corporate partnerships, corporate formation and maintenance, mergers, acquisitions, private placements and creative fundraising. Here, he talks about the ins and outs of applying for a copyright.
What is a copyright? As compared to patents, which work to protect discoveries or inventions, a copyright protects original works of authorship. In other words, it protects something that is expressed, be it a book, a song, a TV show or a painting. Copyrights exist from the moment a work is created, but to enforce someone from infringing on your copyright, you have to register it with the U.S. Copyright Office.
Applying for a copyright is a relatively simpler and less costly process than applying for a patent. However, I would still recommend using an attorney in most cases. What it involves is a form you get from the Copyright Office. You want to be certain it is the right form, and you are filling it out correctly, and most people could use a little help with that.
You send in examples of the work you want to copyright to the government, along with a form, and a small amount of money of money, about $40, to the government to cover the cost of registering the copyright.
Repository of Works
If you want to protect a TV show or a video, for example, you would send in the form and send in a copy of the TV show on a DVD as well. The Copyright Office, which is based in Washington D.C., is a huge repository of all these collected works; it is a giant catalog of all these things. So that’s what you do.
They are a bit behind in Washington but usually within three to six months you will get a certificate back showing you have a registered copyright. Please note, however, that the Copyright Office will not send back items which you mail to them, such as copies of a DVD.
Not Everything Can Be Copyrighted
People should also keep in mind that you need a registered copyright in the United States to be able to sue somebody. You cannot sue somebody for stealing your work or infringing it until you have a registered copyright. Also, that it is not possible to copyright all items. Recipes, for example, cannot always be copyrighted, although there may be a basis to do so in some cases if there is an accompanying literary text, but you cannot simply copyright an ingredients list.
Similarly, you cannot copyright the name of a band, domain name, title, short phrase or slogan, although some of these items may be protected by trademark law. It is another reason why enlisting the services of an intellectual property lawyer can be so important.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.
