Unlike some estate planning terms, like per stirpes, most everyone has heard of copyright. However, there’s still some confusion regarding, what is copyright, and what does it protect? Let’s start with what copyright protects. Copyright is … [Read more...]
How Do I Put A Copyright Into My Trust?
By Kelley Way All right, you’ve created a trust. You’ve also created a copyright, one that’s valuable enough that you want to put it into your trust to protect it. You may even have several income-producing copyrights that you want to put into … [Read more...]
Is a Copyright Small Claims Court in America’s Future?
As an attorney, one of the things that hurts my heart the most is a prospect who comes to me with a great case, but no money to pursue that case in court. In many cases, there is no way to stop an infringer short of a court order, and that court … [Read more...]
Why Register a Copyright?
I’ve had several people reach out to me over the past months regarding a recent Supreme Court case, Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v. Wall-Street.com. The ruling made them worry about their ability to protect their copyrights. For those who … [Read more...]
Large New Trove of Creative Works Enter Public Domain
Back in 1998, Congress passed a law adding 20 years to the term of all U.S. copyrights. That means that, for the last 20 years, no copyrights have expired, and no new material has entered the public domain. That all ended on January 1, 2019, when … [Read more...]
Late Justice — the $2,935 Check I Received for Content I Wrote Twenty Years Ago
The check for $2,935.66 appeared in my mailbox on April 30, 2018. The payment was for a little late justice, about 20 years after the offense. Checks of varying amounts went to 2,494 of my fellow writers, who received portions of a $9,456,000. … [Read more...]
Attorney Kelley Way to Speak about Legal Issues for Authors at October Meeting
Join BAIPA on October 8 When BAIPA Member and Attorney Kelley Way Talks About Dealing with Legal Issues Morning Speaker Presentation: 11am to 12:15pm How to Avoid a Lawsuit: Tips and Tricks to Reduce the Risk of Being Sued While it’s impossible … [Read more...]
The Legal Implications of Collaboration and Copyright Issues
BAIPA Board member Ruth Schwartz found this interesting and informative article on LinkedIn. Collaboration—Joint Copyright Owners Authors of copyrightable work BEWARE. Before you think about combining forces with another author, musician, or any … [Read more...]