“Intellectual Property (IP) 101”

IP includes patents, trademarks, and copyrights. A patent provides an exclusive right to an invention. A trademark provides an exclusive right to an indication of source of a product. A copyright provides an exclusive right to an original work. A service mark provides an exclusive right to a service or origin of a service.

United States copyrights accrue automatically, but a work must be registered with the United States Copyright Office to perfect the federal copyright. Trademark rights can also accrue without a federal registration, but those rights are weaker, and a federal registration is preferred in almost all situations.

The term “intellectual property” denotes the specific legal rights which authors, inventors and other property holders may hold and exercise, and not the intellectual work itself. The laws confer a bundle of exclusive rights in relation to the particular form or manner in which ideas or information are expressed or manifested, and not in relation to the ideas or concepts themselves.

They are designed to protect different forms of subject matter. Copyright may subsist in creative and artistic works (e.g. books, poems, movies, music, paintings, photographs, databases, and software) and give a copyright holder the exclusive right to control reproduction or adaptation of such works for a certain period of time.

The most recent federal statistics shows that slip and fall occurrences cover 15% of the total number of accidental fatalities. Thus, if a person incurred injuries or died due to the hazardous condition of another party’s premises, he or she may demand for damages against the owner of the property where he or she was harmed. However, from a legal point of view, accident cases involving slip and fall are more intricate to defend. This is because the owner can simply wash out the dangerous setting that can be used as evidence in a slip and fall incident. We all know that physical evidences such as the scene of the crime are very vital in any case resolution. Hence, to ensure a positive outcome for the claim, it is best to follow these instructions if ever you will be engaged in a slip and fall accident:

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether software companies can be liable for their products that enable illegal sharing of music and video files. The case of M.G.M. v. Grokster has the attention of major and diverse players. Over 55 amicus briefs – statements by those who are not directly involved in the case – have been submitted to the Court for consideration. These include the NFL, the NBA, the Christian Coalition, Senators Leahy and Hatch, and two photography groups - the PPA and the ASMP, which specifically note that the “illegal file-sharing poses particularly significant risks for publication photographers and other small copyright owners whose livelihoods depend to a substantial degree upon commercial exploitation of their creative works.” Some of the materials can be viewed here: http://news.findlaw.com/legalnews/lit/mpaa/index.html

You’ll often see a copyright “notice” – the familiar © or the word
“copyright” with a date and name of the copyright owner - posted on
works of authorship. This copyright notice is no longer required for
copyright protection, but it may be a good idea to use it.

Copyright is a legal form of protection granted by the U.S. Constitution
for original works of authorship. Things such as books, plays, music,
photographs and even websites are protected by copyright law.

Daniel Woolsey is being sentenced for felony in California. He was caught selling pirated copies of Autodesk’s AutoCAD(R) software. Additional counts for selling other pirated software, including Adobe PhotoShop, were dropped as part of a plea bargain agreement. “This case should be a wake up call to copyright violators that they can face serious consequences. Autodesk will continue to work closely with law enforcement agencies . . . to protect our valuable intellectual property . . . .” said Sandy Boulton, director of Piracy Prevention at Autodesk.

Trucks share a vital role in transporting goods such as livestock, equipment, garments and other essential products for businesses and trades. These large vehicles somehow occupy significant portion of our thoroughfares. Thus, most of the motorists are caught unaware of the possible dangers they are facing whenever they share the road with them. The massive size and weight of these trailers make them capable of causing serious damages. Hence, this piece of writing will try to impart several tips on how to avoid being engaged in truck related accidents.

You can transfer the copyright to an image, either by selling it or giving it away. If so, you give up all rights that you had in the image as if you never took the photograph. But the only way to give up a copyright to an image is in writing.

Even when copies of a photo are distributed, the photographer retains the copyrights to the image. If you give your client copies of the digital files, without more, you are not giving up your copyrights.