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The internet is more than a marketplace – it is a huge canvas for creative medium. Internet marketers work closely with creative experts to design websites, logos and copy for sales letters and websites. Programmers are turning out new programs and designs every day while writer churn out fresh articles and copy.
Nowhere in industry does so much happen simultaneously to bring about new ideas and unique business models. And it all happens so fast that many times webmasters and creative professionals don’t think to protect their new material or ideas from competitors or other marketers. Protecting Your Work Some protection is offered to new material inherently. Copyrights exist the moment your work is saved, but that does not protect a name, slogan or idea. To give yourself as much protection as possible from theft or even manipulation of your brainstorms, you must invest time and energy understanding the legalities of copyright, trademark and patent law. Of course there are lawyers who specialize in this sort of thing that are still learning the details, so it is impossible to expect the average marketer to do so. But every professional working online or off should understand the basics of the law, especially as it applies to their craft or business.
The OverviewThere are three basic forms of legal protection for most material generated through or for the internet. Copyrights protect a final product. Patents protect an idea and your ability to produce and sell the idea exclusively. And trademarks protect a brand image, name or slogan. Copyright A copyright excludes others from using your final product. If you’ve created a program or ebook, the actual saved file is protected by copyright. You have the right to sell your creation and you can sell the copyright with it or retain the copyright and just sell the material. If you create an ebook, for example, you can sell your book all over the internet. Inside the book, you include a copyright notice showing your ownership and others are not legally able to use the book for their own purposes or gain from it financially. They may simply read it and enjoy. They can use a snippet or two for anything they like, but anything more is a violation of copyright laws. You do not have to register to have the copyright for your product. You can register with the government which can make things easier if you wind up suing someone for copyright infringement, but it is not required. You are also not required to put a copyright notice on a document or work, but again, it can’t hurt you to do so. Copyright is one of the most commonly abused laws online. Copying and pasting, rewriting and reselling items purchased without the copyright are all infractions, but happen every day. The original author or holder of the copyright has every legal right to go after anyone infringing on their work and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act shores up the rights of owners online. The owner doesn’t have to go to court to complain about the infringement. Hosting companies, search engines and advertisers are all wary of individuals who break this law and will punish offenders accordingly. It must be clear that a copyright protects only the final product – not the idea. To protect an idea or business model, you must seek a patent. Patents The patent office in your country distributes patents to applicants. To obtain a patent, you must meet certain criteria, submit an application and wait on approval. In the United Kingdom and much of Europe there are more stringent limitations on what is worthy of a patent than in the United States. For example, in the UK, certain software can not be patented. In the United States, there are less exclusions. To obtain a patent, your work must meet certain criteria. While the exact terms and standard differ by country, in most the basic criteria for a patent are as follows: - Is there actually an invention?
- Is it useful in some form to others?
- Is it new?
- Is it actually invented?
- Is it outside the realm of common knowledge?
To be patented, your invention must meet all of these criteria. Then, once you have submitted an application, your invention will be “Patent Pending” which indicates you know your rights and are actively seeking protection. Should anyone copy your product before your patent is complete, they are doing so knowing that they are breaking the law and can be sued once all the paperwork is finalized and you have your patent. Trademarks A final measure of safety is a trademark. A trademark again may be applied for and granted to be defensible, but does not technically require registration. A trademark can apply to a name, a logo, a phrase or slogan, an image or any combination of these that make up a business’ identification or brand. If you have a catchy slogan on your ecommerce site, you can trademark that slogan. If another site uses it, you can sue for infringement. However, if you did not register the slogan, you can only protect your property so far as the actual area you work in or the places your business might reasonably expand. Of course on the internet, this is virtually anywhere, but even so it is wise to register anything unique to your image. A trademark also only protects a name, image, or phrase in relation to your actual business. You can not remove a phrase from the public domain simply because you use it as part of your sales letter. You can prevent others from using it on their sales letter for similar products, but it would be foolish to think you can keep everyday citizens or even websites and businesses completely unrelated to your own from using that exact combination of words or a certain logo.
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