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What Is A Crash Course In Copyright Law

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A Crash Course in Copyright Law for Small Business Owners
Written by Janet Gershen-Siegel

You may think your business does not really need to think about copyright law, but think again. All businesses should consider intellectual property and how it may affect them.
Background

In the United States, copyright law is covered in the Constitution. Cases brought under copyright law are civil. That means no one can go to jail for copyright infringement.

According to the US Copyright Office,

“Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is …show more content…

They can be bought and sold, and even inherited.

In America, copyrights expire after 70 years, but copyright holders often try to get extensions. Never, ever assume a work of art is not copyrighted.
How does this apply?

For the small business owner, intellectual property will generally be about:

• Any patents the business or its employees hold
• The copyright in any artwork the business owns or tries to use
• Trademarks connected to the products the business makes and sells

Ownership of a valid copyright consists of:

1. An original work
2. Which can be …show more content…

However, there are some exceptions.

• Fair Use – nonprofit, personal, and education usage will usually be deemed ‘fair use’. So will criticism, news reporting, commentary, and possibly satire.
• The nature of the work – if the intellectual property is private and unpublished, then the infringer is more likely to need permission to use or quote it.
• Amount – a few lines of a 1,000 word novel are probably okay. 75% of that novel? Nope.
• Market Effect – for fair use to apply licensing has to be unavailable or impossible to obtain; there can’t be a major impact on the intellectual property holder; and it helps if the infringer already owns a legal copy of the work.
What it means to the small business owner

If your company owns intellectual property, or you think you might, it might be a good idea to consult with an intellectual property lawyer. If you have these kinds of assets, they are worth protecting. This means getting patents on inventions and filing for copyright protection for your trademarks and intellectual

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