Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was a work for hire, but the department store employer returned the copyright to the author. This is how copyright registration turned Rudolph into a gold mine for the writer’s family.
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Using metadata in your online creative work now will protect it later. Here’s how to do it.
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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.
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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.
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If you have a large portfolio of creative work that needs copyright protection, here’s a simple formula for deciding what to protect first.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Who owns the rights to cover art on your book? It may not be who you think it is. Whether you are traditionally or self-published, it is better to secure those rights up front than to battle it out later.
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Instant protection is the biggest lie in copyright. Perhaps it’s not a lie, but it is misleading. And the idea that there is instant protection in copyright is misleading writers and artists smack into problems.
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