Most of my clients do not know the difference between copyrights and trademarks nor when each is appropriately used and protected. The legal definition of copyright is a bit highbrow for the typical person to completely understand as it describes what qualifies for copyright protection as existing in “original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression.”

In spite of a lack of thorough knowledge of the ins and outs of copyright protection, the most common mistakes are made literally millions of times each day innocently.

We see people who are the lucky recipients of what are known as “cease and desist” letters alleging that something that they have taken and used without getting the required permissions has been previously registered with the US Copyright Office. Often, this requires some real negotiation to get someone in this circumstance out of the potential large monetary consequence of this problem.

The entire situation could have easily been prevented by checking on the availability of each such item before its use. In the planning for adding photos, videos, illustrations, passages of books, and so on, it becomes critical to have the eye of an experienced individual look at each potential use of material for a risk assessment.

Additionally, the actual process of filing material with the US Copyright Office is something that we do in order to ensure proper protection for our writers, photographers, and others, broadly.