Our IP Law Firm’s Copyright Services
Copyright law is federal law. Copyrights give the authors of creative materials exclusive rights to those forms of expression. Nationwide copyright protection exists with no need for an author to take legal action. However, many authors and artists choose to register their works with the U.S. Copyright Office. To meet the standards of copyright worthiness of created works, the author must verify that the materials are:
- Works of authorship, such as a literary work, news article, letter or PowerPoint presentation; a form of visual art; a musical composition or a choreographed performance
- Original, reflecting the author’s creativity
- Fixed in a tangible medium of expression, such as a publication, film or digitalized image or composition
To confirm that your creative work is suitable for copyright registration, consult with an intellectual property (IP) attorney at Keith Miller Patent Law in Arizona. Our attorneys’ extensive backgrounds in technical fields and decadelong experience in IP law practice have prepared them to help you understand and protect copyrights.
Complete The Process And Benefit From The Rewards
To file your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office, you must complete a rather brief form and pay a fee. Registering a copyright is not a requirement for legal protection, but registering a copyright can help you:
- Ask U.S. Customs to prevent the infringement of your work through imports of fraudulent copies from abroad
- Establish a legal record through a copyright certificate
- Establish a basis by which to bring damage claims and lawsuits against infringers
A copyright does not protect ideas; it protects the creative expression of ideas. When you are the owner of the copyright for a creative piece of work, you will have exclusive rights to:
- Reproduce it
- Create derivative works from the original
- Distribute copies to the public
- Perform the work in public
Legal exceptions include fair use applications in criticism, news reporting, teaching and research.
Our IP Attorneys Can Guide You Through Copyright Registration And Infringement Protection
The process of registering a copyright may seem deceptively simple. However, artists, authors and other creators of works of creative expression understand the value of hiring an attorney to protect copyrights. A lawyer can help ensure that registration is done correctly and can help an author or artist take legal action if someone infringes on a copyright.
Schedule a consultation to discuss your copyright, patent and trademark registration needs with one of our IP lawyers. Call 480-582-0021 or complete a brief online form.