Details about copyrights

There are many occupations and situations that warrant more than just the standard copyright automatically associated with any original work. Knowledge of copyright laws and the subtleties associated with licensing are vital to almost any business. Read on to learn about some of these cases and what Attorney Wheelock can do for you

Artists, writers, and other developers of original content

It's true that no action is necessary to have a copyright on any of your works, so long as they are original. You can even begin to license the works with just this alone - nothing in the law prevents you from assigning your rights to another party. Problems can occur though when there is a dispute over who the original creator is, or if someone tries to use your material without your consent. In the one case you are losing a potential market to another entity, and in the other you are entitled to compensation for the use of your work and being denied that. Both of these situations can end up in civil court, and courts need paper. You cannot simply walk in and say you produced something and own it. This is why copyright registrations exist. A registered copyright is much like a deed - it proves that you own the work. Every piece of material that you intend to license or receive credit for needs to be registered. Attorney Wheelock can help guide you through this process, and assist you in ensuring that you have strong and enforceable rights to your work.

Businesses wishing to use another's material

Almost every business needs advertising. They need websites. They might have customer testimonials. Some online businesses have forums. Some even manage content. Each and every one of these businesses needs to manage copyrights in one form or another. Whether this is in the form of ad copy, an end user agreement or a privacy policy, having this aspect taken care of is important. If advertising copy infringes someone else's copyright, it can be ordered by a court to be taken down, or worse you can be sued. Without properly managing the copyrights of online content a client could inadvertently wind up infringing on someone else's work without even knowing it and putting you at risk. Attorney Wheelock can help you draft these agreements to make sure you are properly protected.

Advertising, movie makers, and other developers of mixed content

Those who use a mixture of content have one of the trickiest situations. They have to be very careful that they don't accidentally infringe on someone else's copyright, opening them up to litigation. Learning what to be careful of and what is okay is imperative. Obtaining rights to content in your material can be a long and complicated process depending on how many different companies and licenses you wind up having to deal with. Sometimes two companies might want to exclude each other. Sometimes they don't want to create an implied endorsement. Managing, drafting, and negotiating these agreements is something that Attorney Wheelock can help you with and take the worry out of the process.