What is a copyright and how does it differ from say patents or trademarks?

Intellectual Property Comments (0)

A simple way to remember the three is as follows: patent law protects inventions; trademark law protects source identifiers such as logos and slogans; and copyright law protects original works of authorship, such as books, music, movies etc.

Copyright law protects as literary works, musical works, dramatic works, pantomimes and choreographic works, pictorial, and graphic works, motion pictures and other audiovisual works, and sound recordings. A copyright owner has several exclusive rights and these include: (a) reproduction, (b) modification, (c) distribution, (d) public performance, and (e) public display. Registration is optional and not required because rights arise automatically when an original work of authorship is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. A registration may be obtained at Copyright Office of the Library of Congress. In general, copyright protection now lasts for seventy years after the author’s death, but under certain circumstances the time is shorter. Some defenses to copyright infringement are: (a) fair use, (b) work is in the public domain, (c) work is factual or an idea.

About:  Dr. Rayan F. Coutinho is an Intellectual Property and Technology Law attorney at the law firm of Wood & Lamping LLP and can be reached at 513-852-6030 or by email at rfcoutinho@woodlamping.com.

admin @ August 19, 2009