Copyrights
Many people understand that copyrights protect written materials like books. But copyright protection covers a broad range of intellectual property, including motion pictures, music, art, and even architectural designs and computer software. At Peacock Law we provide a full range of copyright legal services, from registration to protection against infringement.
Copyright Registration
Copyright provides the author or owner of the work certain exclusive rights in the work, including the right to reproduce the work, prepare derivative works based upon the work, distribute copies of the work, and perform the work publicly. In general, the author or creator of the work is the owner of these copyrights in the work. However, if the author was hired to create the work, or if the author assigned ownership of the work to others, the author may not own the copyrights.
While registration of a work is not required to have copyright in the work, copyrights should be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office to obtain certain benefits that make enforcement of those rights practical, and to enforce copyrights in court the copyrights must be registered. For many types of works, copyright registration is fairly straightforward—individuals often register copyrights without legal assistance. However, consulting with IP legal professionals can help prevent problems that may arise in the enforcement of registered copyrights if the applications were not done correctly and to ensure that your registration covers all that you are entitled to claim in copyright to provide the broadest protection of your work.
Our IP legal professionals will determine the best path for obtaining the broadest intellectual property protection for your work. Some forms of intellectual property may be covered by both trademark and copyright, and some forms are not suitable or eligible for copyright protection at all – such as words, slogans or short phrases. Peacock Law works with clients to ensure that their intellectual property receives quality protection.
Copyright Notice & Infringement
Before the Berne Convention became effective in 1989, copyright notice in the form of the copyright symbol ©, author’s name, and date of first publication were required for copyrights to be enforceable against infringers. While providing notice on the work is no longer required, it is highly recommended. Failing to provide proper notice on a work could lead to cases where accidental infringement occurs (or is claimed as a defense). In such cases, your award could be adversely affected.
Fortunately, many cases of copyright infringement can be settled through correspondence, mediation, or binding arbitration. Peacock Law provides these services to our clients. However, if necessary, Peacock Law is prepared to take infringement cases to court to protect the IP interests of our clients.