Copyright & Trademark
Protect Your Brand
Copyright is essentially legal protection provided to creators of original work. It gives you the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, distribute, publicly perform and display your work. Copyright protects images, writing, software coding, photographs, poetry, movies, music, video games, videos, plays, paintings, sheet music, recorded music, performances, novels, sculptures, photographs, choreography and architectural designs. The work must be original and “fixed in a tangible medium of expression”, meaning it must exist in a physical form. This includes printed materials as well as digital storage. The work must be a result of creative effort by the author, it can’t just be a list of facts. Copyright does not protect work that is still just in the idea stage—that would be a patent.
You do not need to register with the US Copyright Office (USCO) for your work to be protected—this protection is automatic from the moment your work is fixed in a tangible medium. However, it is much more difficult to pursue action in court or recover damages if your work is not registered. When you register, your work is announced and so claims by the other party that they weren’t aware of yours are easily dismissed, and this makes a big difference in the amount of recoverable damages. Registration also makes it easier to sell or license your work to others in exchange for loyalties and fees.
Trademark is similar, but originated later than copyright law and specifically protects commercial names, phrases/slogans and logos. Trademark is managed through the US Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO. Trademark registration was designed to help prevent customer confusion in the marketplace, and to keep brands from capitalizing off of one another’s success unfairly. Courts use the “likelihood of confusion” test to determine if a given name, phrase or logo would confuse a customer into thinking the two brands are the same or related. This covers similarity in sound, appearance or meaning, depending on the relatedness of the goods and/or services.
As with copyright, trademark can be established through use in the marketplace and registration with the USPTO is not required. Similarly though, there are legal disadvantages to being unregistered. Unregistered trademark infringement claims can only be pursued in state courts, which won’t help if your competitor is not local. There is also a much greater burden of proof required to recover damages. The ™ symbol can be used on unregistered names, phrases and logos, but it usually signifies intent to register or a registration in process. The ® symbol means the work is fully registered.
At Brother3, we don’t just protect your brand—we help make sure that nothing puts your business at risk. Content marketing done improperly can violate copyright law and can expose a company to substantial legal risk, money damages and embarrassment, as well as tarnishing the brand. We do thorough copyright and trademark audits to ensure all assets provided are sufficiently unique. You may have heard of the “20% Rule” or “30% Rule”, that a work can change a given percent of content from the original and avoid litigation. That’s a common misconception and no such designation exists anywhere in copyright or trademark law. We are familiar with standards, practices and precedent, and easily guide you through the ins and outs of copyright and trademark law.