Copyright protection for your small business products

As a business owner, you've worked hard to develop products for your small business. One of the ways you can protect them and have control over how they are used is through a copyright.

Registering for copyright protection is a good idea for your small business products for a number of reasons, including:

• Registering for a copyright makes it known to the public you have a copyright for a particular work.
• Copyrights give you the authority over your products or works and how they are used or not used.
• You can protect your original work and business products by suing for copyright infringement if your work is stolen.
• Copyright protection protects the valuable time and money you spend on developing products for your small business.
• Obtaining a copyright is affordable and worth the money, particularly if you are faced with someone who infringes on your work.
• A copyright allows you to collect more damages should you have to sue for copyright infringement.
• Copyrights give you the right to sell the whole bundle of rights to your products, or to sell them one by one.

Technically, however, you don't need to register for a copyright; registration is a formality. However, it is required if you plan to sue for copyright infringement. You will get more money and prove your case easier if you have a registered copyright.

What is covered in a copyright?
Copyrights differ from patents or trademarks because they prevent original works of authors, where as patents protect ideas and inventions, and trademarks protect symbols, sounds, or words. Under the law, the following types of works can be copyrighted:

• Literary works


• Musical works


• Dramatic works


• Pantomimes and choreographic work


• Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural work


• Motion pictures or other audiovisual works


• Sound recordings

While this may not seem like much, it actually encompassed a broad range of things and products you might be using for your small business. Advertising materials, trade publications, photos, label designs, websites, fabric designs, and more are all products and works that can be protected by copyrights.

Copyrights are beneficial because they last the lifetime of the person who created the product, plus 70 years. If you register your copyright under your small business, then it last between 95 and 125 years.

How to get a copyright
If you would like to register copyrights for your small business products, the best way to do so is online with the US Copyright Office. Their website is www.copyright.gov. It is recommended that you file online, which is faster, allows you to track the status, and has a lower filing fee than if you do so through mail. This website will walk you through the steps required, which include:

• Filling out an application. An online tutorial will help you with this.


• Pay a filing fee ($35 if you register online; $45 for paper applications.


• A nonreturnable deposit of the work that you are registering. You will need two complete copies of each. If you have multiple products you are sending, then number each envelope for faster processing.

Copyrights for your small business products are an excellent way to legally protect the things you have spent hours creating. The above tips will help you successfully file for copyright registration.

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