Where creative professionals come to learn about the law so they can create with confidence.

1 Using Metadata to Monitor Your Portfolio

Using metadata in your online creative work now will protect it later. Here’s how to do it.

Protect your creative rights by challenging those who would take them from you. It’s not always easy. Here’s what happened when I was caught off guard by someone who blatantly admitted stealing the creative work of others.

Trademark registration may not be the first thing you want to spend your money on, but plan for it in your budget. Successful businesses are built on branding.

The need for privacy is a concern for many writers and artists. Filing an application with the Copyright Office for a copyright registration on your work creates a public record. There is a natural tension between protecting your work with a public filing and protecting your privacy, but it can be done.

It takes a certain kind of person to be a creative entrepreneur. A successful business is made up of more than just a good idea. Good ideas are key, but they are also a dime a dozen. Solid execution is needed to bring that idea to fruition, to turn that idea into a going concern, to have that idea make money.

If you have a large portfolio of creative work that needs copyright protection, here’s a simple formula for deciding what to protect first.

It can take as much ingenuity to protect your designs as it does to create them. Designers in fields like graphic art, jewelry, furniture, and fashion need to use different laws in combination to catch copyists. Here are some examples of how copyright, contract, and trademark law work together to protect your work.

Registering your creative work with the U.S. Copyright Office (even as a foreign national), creates opportunity for multiple revenue streams from a single work. It’s a best practice for your creative career. Here’s why.

American copyright law was not always a powerhouse protecting the rights of creators. Back in the day, foreign writers had their work ruthlessly plundered by American publishers. Charles Dickens was active in bring the United States into the international copyright fold.

When do you need a model release from the person whose image you are using in your work? Should you ask permission or forgiveness?

« Previous 1 2 3 4 Next »

1 Using Metadata to Monitor Your Portfolio

22 Advocating for Creative Rights Is Personal

0 Trademark Registration Costs and Timeline

9 Privacy and the Copyright Office

2 Creative Entrepreneur: Running a [Jailhouse] Business

9 How to Protect Your Archive of Creative Work

3 How to Protect Designs from Illegal Copying

25 A Successful Creative Career Comes From Copyright Registration

16 Charles Dickens and the American Copyright Problem

4 Model Releases: Who Needs Them and When are They Needed?

Rip-Off Protection Report for Creative Professionals

This free report shows you four basic steps for: