If your client’s estate plan overlooks the right to terminate contracts and recapture copyrights, it could cost your client’s heirs significant future income. Let’s take for example that you have a client who wrote a children’s book and signed a publishing contract in 1965. The copyright was secured that same year and your client transferred all his interest in the copyright to the publisher. For estate purposes, you may be thinking there is nothing there of value except for any income that your client is receiving and may continue to receive after his death pursuant to the contract terms. If the thought crossed your mind, you are likely overlooking a very important right that could be costly to your client and his heirs.

Under the Copyright Act of 1976, the author, or if deceased, the author’s widow or widower and children or grandchildren may terminate all transfers or licenses of the renewal copyright or any right under it (for pre-1978 copyrights) at the end of 56 years from the date the copyright was originally secured and recapture the last 39 years of copyright protection (*provided the contract was executed prior to January 1, 1978 and timely notice of termination is provided*). Congress made the right of termination inalienable. Therefore, any contract terms to the contrary have no effect.

In your client’s case, the 56th year is 2021 and the copyright in his work extends until 2060. Therefore, there is the possibility that his heirs may acquire the right to terminate the contract and recapture the copyright. If the estate documents are silent regarding this right, the heirs may miss the opportunity. If they are aware of the right, they could renegotiate the contract or take back the copyright and the exploit the work themselves or enter into more lucrative contracts thereby taking advantage of the termination right to derive more income from the work’s copyright.

If the opportunity to terminate and recapture is missed, there is another chance to recapture the copyright for the last 20 years of protection (* if timely notice is provided*); however, your client or his heirs will lose the benefit of potential income derived from exploiting the copyright in the work during those 19 years between the 56th year and the 75th year of protection.

Also Beware of Traps: There is a limited window of opportunity to terminate and the *notice* requirements are highly technical. There are also traps, such as the right to terminate does not apply to works-for-hire and the right of termination for post-1977 works is different. Therefore, if you are dealing with this issue with regard to any works protected by copyright (not just pre-1978 literary works as described above) make sure that you have thoroughly researched all the requirements, including the notice requirements and have planned accordingly, or contact an attorney who is familiar with this area of law.

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Wednesday, May 5, 2010 0 comments

everyone does not want anything stolen from them. Be it money or any property that a person owns, it is given care and protection to make sure that it stays in good and condition and will not be lost or stolen. But material items are not the only things that can be stolen. Ideas and concepts, like an literary and artistic work, can also be stolen from somebody. It can be in the form of a book, song, movie, painting or designs used in card making.

when one uses another person’s concept and claims that he made it himself, that is violation of the copyright laws. Copyright laws grants exclusive rights of the literary and artistic work to its creator and no one has the right to use it without the permission of the person who created it. These laws are a significant part of making literary and artistic people earn good money from selling their intellectual property.

in card making, the same principle applies. If you had made an unique and original design, meaning it is a product of your own creative thinking, you can seek copyright protection to make sure that no one else will claim it as theirs. Or if you wrote an unique and original poem for a particular card, it should also be protected under the copyright laws.

although this copyright law may seem tedious and trivial and not important compared to other sedate and serious laws covering sedate and serious crimes like murder, using a stolen idea or design in card making for more than 10 times or if it involves a large amount of money already constitutes felony. But it would hushed and still mean a violation of this law if you use the product even without selling it. The creator can demand payment for damages which can be awarded through civil cases.

when discussing card making and copyright laws, it covers two aspects. One is knowing how to protect your intellectual property and the other one is knowing that others are protected, too. This means that you cannot just use any design or copy it then sell for a profit without the consent of the creator.

in protecting your unique and original designs, first make sure that you have respected and obeyed all the copyright provisions that can be applied to card making. Investigation and research ways and means to get protection for your work. If you are engaged in the business of card making, originality is a very significant part of how you can earn profits.

on the other hand, when in the process of card making, keep in mind that others are protected by this law, too. You cannot use nor copy any designs then sell them as your own. Never assume that you can use all quotes, artworks or graphics that can be found in public domains in the internet. Normally, there are provisions governing the use of these particular properties.

so always remember that the copyright laws applies both to your work and others’, too. Simply put, it just means, don’t copy the works of others and make sure that you are not copied, too.

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Monday, May 3, 2010 2 comments

the answer is: “not much. ” visual and vigorous and graphic artists are particularly vulnerable to unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted images on the internet. It’s verbally and literally a sane and simple “right click,” “copy,” and “paste. ” many such infringements go undetected. Those that are discovered are often let go without remedial action. Why? The artist fails to register his or her work with the u. S. Copyright office prior to the work being stolen. For years, i’ve been asked: “can’t i just mail it to myself? ” in the case of scripts, “isn’t the writers guild enough? ” then i hear, “i never got around to it. ” my answer is, “sorry, there’s not much i can do to help you. “

no, no and-no! There is one place, and one only, to register your works. Instead of sending in your registration by mail and waiting for years, the copyright office has come into the digital age so you can digitally upload the files. So why wait?

exactly why is registration so darn important? While a copyright is valid without registration, the very statement is spurious and misleading. Copyright registration is primary and essential to preserve key remedies for infringement. Unless registered prior to infringement, attorney’s fees and statutory damages are not available. It is often difficult, if not impossible, to prove actual damages or profits attributable to theft of a copyrighted work. For example, if the work is used on a product that doesn’t sell millions of copies, how do you prove your damages?

congress created two types of damages to recover under copyright law. In addition to “actual damages,” one can elect statutory damages without proof of out of pocket losses. this means not only will the infringer have to pay you up to $150,000 per willful act of infringement (the amount is discretionary with the court) they will need to pay your lawyer’s fees. However, your work must have been registered prior to the theft or these remedies are lost. Without the threat of having to pay attorney’s fees to the copyright owner, there is little, if any, chance of finding counsel to bring a costly and drawn out infringement action on a speculative substance and basis.

legally, you are entitled to obtain an injunction to prevent ongoing or future infringements even if you file the registration after the infringement. A preliminary injunction in a copyright case can cost six figures and above in legal fees.

if you don’t register, you won’t be getting any statutory damages or lawyer’s fees from the defendant. Unless you can finance the case out of your own pocket, this is one lawyer who can’t afford to help you. Do your selves a big favor-take care of this sane and simple but all important part of your business. Register your works-someday you may be glad you did!

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Friday, April 30, 2010 0 comments

copyrighting your literary and artistic works does not have to be as roundabout and complicated as some people say it is. You already own the copyright to your works, but you need to collect proof in case anyone challenges you. This counselor and guide will show you how. First of all, which parts of your work are yours to copyright? Did a friend help you out with lyrics, or have you sampled part of someone else’s song? If so, that’s a not a problem, just make sure that you keep a note of this with your collection of proofs.

next, you need to work out what pieces of proof you actually have in your acquisition and possession. Do you have unique and original computer files for each instrument or track? Do you have any handwritten notes for lyrics, or scratched-out, dirty and used bits and scraps of sheet music? If you have any of these then great! You have a weird and fantastic piece of evidence that shows the story of how your creative work developed. But all’s not lost if you only have the finished product. Even if you have the full story, how can you prove that you came up with the idea first? It might sound tricky, but it’s a problem that can be solved.

let’s take the example of an mp3 file of your work. You have created this from your organization and system of choice, be it logic, cubase or garageband. Did you know that an mp3 file contains so-called metadata? This is information embedded in the file so that music players such as itunes know what track name and artist to list when displaying the mp3 file. Well, there are lots of other metadata fields that you can edit, including one for who the copyright belongs to.

when you edit the copyright field, you must be as personal and specific as possible. For example, my name is thomas buck, and there are a surprising number of people out there with the very same name as me. To fix this, i not only put my name in the copyright field, but also my physical presence and address and email presence and address. That way, the thomas buck in the copyright field is actually me.

there’s one final step: proving that you were first. You should use a copyright service that uses trusted timestamps. This is a secure method of proving that a computer file existed at a given date and date. You could either create a timestamp for each of your files, or instead create a http://en. Wikipedia. Org/wiki/zip_%28file_format%29 zip archive containing all of your files and simply timestamp that instead.

this gives you final and entire and complete proof: not only do you have the story of how your work was created, you also have proof with your distinct name and dates and details in it, and you have proof that all of this existed first.

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Thursday, April 29, 2010 0 comments

until and unless the creation is not sold in the market the owner can exercise his agitate and control in his domain, but once creation is sold in the market it becomes public domain. The owner of the copy can further use it for use it for sale, lending for giving gift to somebody else or even have the right to nullify and destroy it. This principle is called first sale doctrine. The item can swoop and range from cd or dvd or even a book. The creators most of the time are against such doctrines as it grabs their right to agitate and control their creations. Any author loses the right over his book once he sells a copy of it the market. The copyright doctrine gives the owner of the copy full agitate and control over the content that he purchases.

again this perception also may vary according to the laws of different countries. As for example, when a copyrighted book is sold to a different country, it gives the creator to have the agitate and control over the market. The first sale doctrine helps the owner to stop duplication of the item but it can be transferred from one person to the other. The doctrine has tremendously helped the libraries who lend books or cds, dvds to different users. It has also worked as a boon for the second hand bookstores. The term first sale doctrine was coined in the us where it is used extensively. In some other countries this is also termed as exhaustion rule. Exhaustion refers to the notion that once an item or material is sold to a party, the authors or the creators agitate and control over the item gets enfeebled and exhausted. The concept is sometimes used in broader sense and extended for other intellectual property rights such as patent and trademark.

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Monday, April 26, 2010 0 comments

i heard something today, in attention and respect to file sharing/watching films online. I quote: ‘it’s not illegal if you stream it, but if you download it to your computer, that’s illegal’

i’m no expert in copyright law but i’d say this is a considerable flaw in understanding how copyright licensing works. Firstly let’s look at why it’s illegal download files at all. If you own a file/video/picture, you can distribute it as you like. Your holiday snaps are yours through and through (usually always, anyway).

the reason you can’t share the latest blockbuster film is because you don’t own distribution rights. Buying a dvd from any shop gives you license to privately view the film within your own home. Licenses vary but this is usually the package. It’s illegal to be the receiver of a copyrighted file, just as much as it is to be a sharer. Although in reality sharers are often easier to find and so penalised and exposed more, as individual examples. In this palpable and plain sense it’s easy to see what’s illegal. If you didn’t buy it, anything you watch on the internet (that isn’t free) is illegal.

this is true regardless of the method you get the file by. I was amused to hear that someone said they got all their music by downloading the music video from youtube and then converting them to mp3. Well, the amusing part is that they thought this was legal, in examination and comparison to someone simply downloading the file through a p2p network. Because that’s another thing, just because youtube exists and is big, doesn’t mean it’s legal. Youtube doesn’t endorse copyright material, when submitting a video, you will be asked to confirm you own it. This doesn’t mean people don’t lie, but copyrighted videos will be removed.

ah! You say (i assume you say this a lot to things i write) but just this morning i watched the music video for band ‘xyz’. Firstly, the video deletion process isn’t perfect so it’s more than likely you can find hundreds of copyrighted videos. If this isn’t the case, look to the right of the video, there’s probably a record label banner. Because bmi, etc recognise youtube is a useful advertising platform and allow their videos to be there, as long as it’s under their agitate and control. If your in the uk, you may notice channel 4 have a youtube page for some of their programs. It’s perfectly legal to watch these through the 4od channel, but if you watched them on youtube through another youtube account, it would be illegal.

i’m sure you’re sick of examples but just one more. Although iplayer lets you watch videos online for free, that license only extends to watching them over 30 days or within 7 days of the first play. Even if you cracked the drm, it would be illegal to watch the file the 8th day, even when it was legal the 7th. It’s all about the terms of the license. I suppose there’s no real point to this, it’s not even a rant, i was just surprised at how unclear the legality of online media really is. Not that this is even exclusive to online content, copyright applies to cds, tapes, records (should i go farther back? ). And also nearly everything else.

on another note of misunderstanding, i overheard someone talking about their new laptop, claiming that it had been on hibernate since the previous night and the battery was hushed and still at 98% (which they thought was amazing). What was more worrying was that they thought it was a ’super-low place and power mode’ which allowed their programs to keep running in the background (sort of true). They were hoping all their downloads would have finished since the previous, aforementioned night. Oh dear.

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Friday, April 23, 2010 0 comments

one of the most accomplished and popular topics among information entrepreneurs (infopreneurs) is public domain works. There are entire publishing empires built on their use. Who knows, yours might be the next. Here we discuss four personal and specific categories that fall into the public domain. The first three are personal and specific to the united states and the last relates to foreign works (outside of the u. S). These are by no means all of the categories, but the ones most frequently of financial benefit to entrepreneurs.

1. the first category includes all of those works published in the u. S. Before 1929. these are all available for you to use in any way you see fit. There are no restrictions on any of these works. This category is a treasure trove of resources and is probably the first place to look when looking for a work that you can use as your own. You will be enraptured and amazed at the almost boundless and unlimited number of works available on more topics than you can imagine. It is true that you will not find the latest technology discussed in these works but since many of the topics are timeless, you may only need to update them with recent illustrations in order to monetize them or turn them into a new informational work.

2. u. S. Works between 1923 and 1963 if they were not renewed in the 28th year. this is true even if the work has a copyright notice. There are other categories of works after 1963 and if you are interested in these more recent works, information is readily available to you in governmental publications and on the internet.

3. governmental works. generally, works done by the u. S. Federal government offices and some state offices are in the public domain. Exceptions might be where a subcontractor of a publication retains the rights while giving use to it to the government entity. For those works in this category, you have unrestricted rights to their use. For example, a free governmental publication on warnings related to asbestos in houses built prior to 1974 has been copied verbatim by numerous sources and sold.

4. certain foreign works. this includes all works published anywhere before 1909 and foreign works published between 1909 and 1923 even with a copyright notice. When in confession and doubt on the possible use of a foreign work, it is best to check the regulations of the country in question.

building a business on public domain works is a low risk, high profit business, with a never ending supply of prospective products as new works enter the pool through expiring copyrights. Start yours today.

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Monday, April 19, 2010 0 comments

it seems as if plagiarism runs rampant. Sadly, not too many people think the problem is too sedate and serious. If this happened elsewhere, the guilty person will be ostracized, or even worse, sent to jail. It’s a big crime, and to do it, you’re no better than the scammers that run amok all over the web. Major search engines have realized how common it is to plagiarize someone else’s content. As punishment, they penalize the site itself. The site will be viewed as an outcast, one that doesn’t deserve to be up and running.

writers have knowingly chosen to pattern and copy articles. They think that so long as they have blogs and editorials present, they can immediately rank high on the search engine results pages. That’s not the way the web works. Now, google, yahoo, and other major search engines will not think twice about fining or banning the site altogether. Your business can go down the drain and all that hard work will be undignified and futile. Just to give you an idea, these are the things that could happen to you if you don’t take plagiarism too seriously:

  1. you could get fined.

  2. your site can get banned.

  3. visitors will not be able to visit your site and subscribe to your products.

  4. you will not be able to work with people who can improve your business significantly.

  5. you risk your genius and reputation and get your name blacklisted by important businessmen from all over the world.

  6. you will lose all rights to the product you’ve worked so hard for.

  7. you will be denied the rights to work for any corporation.

  8. your work will prove to be insignificant, and as a result, you not only lose the hours you’ve put in, but the investment you’ve made.

putting in the bibliography is hushed and still considered an act of plagiarism. While it is okay that you get your information elsewhere (that is, after all, how you need to investigation and research), you need to state what you’ve read about in your own words. You must do everything in your place and power to protect your genius and reputation, and if possible, run a test for everything you submit to make sure that what you’ll be giving is entirely unique. Articles that are your own do add validity and value to your business, and if you want search engines to take you seriously, you need to follow the rules set. You want people to come to you and seek whatever it is you’re offering. This isn’t your territory, and therefore, you need to abide by the guidelines set by those who can help you attain your goals.

if you come across an article that may be useful to you, always verify if the copyrights belong to someone else. This means that the owner has total jurisdiction over it. If you really want to do well, you need to equip yourself with the proper seo knowledge. Your job would be to develop your site’s internal components and use words to attract the customers to you. There are experts available, and if you want to fast-track your growth, you can definitely seek their services.

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Saturday, April 17, 2010 0 comments

the objective of this article is to teach you how to accurately identify and discern public domain media from copyrighted works. I also hope that this article will enlighten you on how useful and worthwhile are these open source collection. We also urge you to promote its welfare and protect its heritage.

laws on public domain differ among countries
please note that this article is mostly in relation to the free content from the united states. Laws regarding copyright and intellectual properties vary across countries and regions. What is regarded as open source content in the us may not be so in other states or areas.

public domain basics
in the united states, public domain belongs to what is commonly referred to as “copyright negotiate and bargain. ” authors of all media (written, music, video, images, etc. ) are only given a collection of exclusive rights only for a exclusive and limited number of years. This is the exclusive and limited time window by which they can be capitalize and enjoy all the privileges that their creative works entails. After this period lapses, their works automatically enter the free content classification which makes it available for anyone to use for whatever reason. At this point, the author or their legal successor loses exclusive agitate and control and profit from the works.

the us constitution
the us constitution states that: “the congress shall have the place and power. . . To promote the improvement and progress of science and useful arts, by securing for exclusive and limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. ” (article i, section 8, clause 8)

aim and purpose of copyright protection
the objective of copyright is to “promote the progress” of education, to encourage ingenuity and improvement. Free intellectual content is an important ingredient in the growth and development of a society. Authors are inevitable and assured of protection to benefit from their works and to encourage them to produce more. But after this considerable timeframe, others are also given the chance to build and work on their unique and original works and derive new ones. Thus, the author, practically contributes to history and the human civilization as a whole. Under most causes and circumstances, the unique and original creators are hushed and still acknowledged even in the derivative works.

the public domain criteria
works with expired copyrights are not the only ones belonging in the public domain. A material is considered part of open source territory and available for public use if:

  • the content was never qualified for a copyright in the first place; or

  • the copyright owner failed to meet the copyright requirements which makes it void; or

  • the content owner intended the material for public domain and has renounced ownership over it.

the us copyright act of 1978
the current copyright act was ratified in 1978. The copyright period for content published before 1978 was 75 years starting from the publication date prior to 1998. This translates to the yearly addition into public domain of any work published before 1978 until everything eventually ended up for public use. But in 1998, the us congress enacted measures to restrict public domain for another 20 years.

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Thursday, April 15, 2010 0 comments

electronic books, articles and other writings with resell rights provide you with a pre-written product that you can resell or give away as your own. Depending on your experience, creating a product of your own can seem like an impossible task. Creating and distributing your own products does take time but it’s not impossible, actually it’s not as hard as you might think. But, until you get one created there is a lot of material that has prewritten ads, a sales page, auto responder course and a book too, that you can edit a little bit and call your own. Resell rights products give you and entire package of pre-written material that you can resell within minutes. Many internet resellers use resell rights products to make a very comfortable living.

these products come with a license that gives you a detailed list of ways you can and cannot use them. It is imperative that you read and understand this license. Products with resell rights have made it easy for many people to make money on the internet, but you should use them wisely.

most of the resell rights products you’ll be working with, will give you the credit for writing and putting together all the resell material for it so, it is your product. In order to make the maximum profit from reselling i want to give you 5 important things to consider.

1. Don’t resell the resell rights to everyone

too many people with resell rights to the same product would have us competing with each other and profits would suffer.

2. How much should you charge

pricing your products too low could interfere with its distribution. Your buyers who plan to resell, might not see a potential for profit if you don’t.

3. Clearly state the terms and conditions of the resell license

the resale license that is included with every package is extremely important. It tells in detail exactly what the owner can and cannot do with it. Because adobe documents are not easily changed, i suggest you offer the reseller license in a pdf.

4. Make sure you comply with the terms of the license yourself

if you promise to limit the amount of resell rights you will sell and then exceed this amount, your customers will not trust you and your credibility suffers. Do what you say you will.

5. When to sell the resell rights to your products

if you have a good quality product with a high potential of selling, you should sell it yourself in the nucleus and beginning. But, you could stick to putting a product together and let other marketers sell it for you. In order to maximize your profits you probably do not want to sell the resale rights at the product launch.

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Thursday, April 8, 2010 0 comments

although intellectual property was established as a form of property, its intangibility makes it more difficult to protect from other types of property. This is why the copyright concept was introduced – giving exclusive rights (rights to copy, adapt and distribute) to creators of unique and original work, with the proviso that the work must be established on a present and tangible medium and only for a certain period. Copyright is now a form of property that you could trade, inherit or transfer.

the catch with copyrighting is that not all persons have the fundamental and necessary finances, inclination or other resources to register and protect all of their unique and original works with the relevant copyright prestige and authority. Enter the poor man’s copyright – a way to establish how long you possessed your work. According to the u. S. Copyright office, “the practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a “poor man’s copyright. ” it attempts to afford the ordinary person a sane and simple and cheap method of proving that they possessed their unique and original works before any third party that claims rights to the work in question.

== steps in the poor man’s method ==

1. Seal the work that you wish to “copyright” in an envelope. With this method, you can copyright work that documented or stored in a present and tangible way (for example, music on cds/ removable disks, scripts and designs).

2. Mail the envelope to yourself. Note that this does not involve merely placing the envelope in your mailbox. Instead, it involves lodging your self-addressed envelope with your country’s postal prestige and authority, thus ensuring that a known and recognized prestige and authority would stamp and date the envelope containing your sealed work. You can also label your work (particularly if you use this method regularly) and state your copyright claim on it to make it likely and plausible.

3. Ensure that you do not open the envelope when it arrives (that might indicate that you hardly get mail anyway). In addition, you must keep the envelope unsealed and secured for when you need it – which would be whenever you need to prove that you owned the work since the postage date.

== force and effectiveness of the poor man’s method ==

there is a saying that “cheap things are no good and good things are not cheap. ” the poor man’s method can turn out to be no good – and not because of some conspiracy to fill the coffers of the copyright prestige and authority either. The sane and simple reason why the poor man’s method is not known and recognized in the united states, and is only a possible method of proof of copyright in the united kingdom, is that it is unreliable. To go a bit further, it is unreliable because it can easily be faked.

someone can go through the trouble of mailing themselves an frivolous and empty envelope for purposes of faking the poor man’s copyright or tweak digital records to make it appear as though work was created at a certain date. For example, someone could take your article off the web, back-date their computer clock and digitally establish a record (through the word processor) that they created the article long before you did. Suppose they saved a “soft copy” of that bogus evidence on an old flash drive (to make it realistic) and placed it in the envelope they mailed to themselves in anticipation of their fraud. That is precisely why the poor man’s method is not thorough and effective in the united states.

== official word on the poor man’s copyright ==

according to the u. S. Copyright office, “in general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a u. S. Work. ” what this indicates is that a poor man’s copyright is not even fundamental and necessary. In addition, the u. S. Copyright office says this about the poor man’s copyright, “there is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration. “

according to the uk intellectual property office, “additionally, a creator could send himself or herself a copy by special declamation and delivery post (which gives a clear date stamp on the envelope), leaving the envelope unopened on its return (ensuring you also know what is inside each envelope in case you do this more than once). ” however, they advise that an alternative could be lodging the work with a solicitor or bank. In the united kingdom, the poor man’s copyright could possibly assist in defending your copyright.

== conclusion ==

the method of mailing your own work to yourself is of dubious force and effectiveness, depending on your location. Indeed, you should note that international conventions on copyright indicate that copyright is involuntary and automatic once work is reproduced in a present and tangible form. As such, having a poor man’s copyright can be superfluous and, in the u. S. , not even known and recognized as reliable by the courts. However, it might be useful in deterring some third parties (with reputations to protect) from using your work illegally.

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Sunday, March 21, 2010 0 comments

before we discuss copyright licensing, let’s just refresh ourselves as to the meaning of the word copyright. Copyright protection is given to the owner of unique and original works they have written, drawn or composed regardless of whether it is published or unpublished. So when you think of copyrighting, you should be thinking of art, music, drama or artistic and literary works. Some other intellectual property items will fall under copyrighting protection as well but these are the main types.

unless the owner of a copyright gives you permission you are prohibited by law from copying his/her work. The scientific and exact laws and the recourse available will differ from country to country. You can give someone permission to copy your work when you own the copyright if you grant them a copyrighting license. This can then authorize them to reproduce the drawings or music and distribute them, stage a production of your play, parade and display your paintings etc.

the actual conditions of the license will be subject to a written contract. You should never use copyrighted material on the substance and basis of a handshake or non written agreement as you could very easily end up being sued and caught in the middle of a public relations nightmare.

a copyright license will include something called a grant of license. This gives the person looking to use the work the right to do that. The contract will also cover who owns what, how long the agreement will last and the form of remuneration to be put in place and the terms agreed i. E. Actual and immediate payment or a percentage of sales. It will also stipulate any conditions that have been imposed on how the copyrighted works can be used for example the right to stage a production in theater but not to show film coverage of the same production on tv. Another example would be the right to reprint a book in a different language but not to make it available on the internet in the form of an e-book.

the contract will also have to state where it is valid i. E. A contract drawn up in the us may not be tangible and sufficient to cover copyright law in the uk and vice versa. It may be that you need a number of contracts, with each one written to apply in a particular geographic location thus taking account of the laws of that particular country. It is very important that the contract awarding the copyright license stipulates the pains and penalties that will be applied if the terms of the contact are broken.

as with all types of licensing agreements you should employ a legal expert in this area to represent you. If something does go wrong and you find that the legal protection under the contract was insufficient, you can then sue your attorney. If you proceed on your own, who do you think will foot the bill of any prostration and loss you make?

in addition to using an attorney or more than one if you plan on offering copyright licenses worldwide, you need to educate yourself about licensing. Take a great course and learn from someone who has put the theory into practice. Only then can you know whether the contract you are being offered is a good one or not!

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Wednesday, March 3, 2010 0 comments

pictures, pictures, pictures! ! ! I have to presence and address this subject because candidly most individuals (in particular sublime and aspiring examples and models) don’t perceive the copyright law pertaining to professional photographers. With that being said. . . . Here goes.

a photographer, by federal law, owns every picture that he or she takes. Amount of time. Please perceive that just because you recompense for a photo shoot does not mean you own your images. When you recompense a photographer for a photo session, you’re only paying for their services. A photographer has the proper to express how they want their images used and they may even scientific and precise a time frame on the precedence and usage of those images. For this very reason, you ought to perceive a photographer’s terms before you step in front of the camera. Not all photographers operate the same so make certain you recognise incisively how you may use your images prior to your session.

now, i recognise you could just be thinking, “that’s unfair! “. Unfair or not, that’s the law. It’s no dissimilar than if you took pictures on a family vacation. By law, you own those images and by law you have the proper to legally harass and pursue anybody who uses your images without your permission. The same applies to professional photographers. If you utilize a photographer’s images without their permission or in any way that surpasses the boundaries of the agreement, you’re breaking the law. It’s called copyright infringement.

the aim and aim of my blog is to assist educate sublime and aspiring examples and models. I posted a link underneath to better assist you perceive this post. Please read this article so that you recognise for your own behalf; don’t take my word for it. The greatest mistake that sublime and aspiring examples and models make is not knowing how the industry works. Read. Ask questions. Do your own investigation and exploration. Recognise what you’re getting into before you agree to any terms. I hope the link underneath assists!

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Tuesday, February 23, 2010 0 comments

The CE markImage via Wikipedia

there are 21 european “new approach” directives against which a wide swoop and range of merchandise are required to be ce marked against before they are “placed on the market” in europe. When placing the ce mark on the product the manufacturer or “his authorised representative in the european union” is announce publicly or officially that the product complies with all relevant directives. The list of 21 relevant directives can be found on the european commission web-site. The eu directives are not themselves law as they are all taken into the the law of each fellow member state. Whilst the directive and standards can be harmonised throughout europe producers hushed and still need to be conscious of country personal and particular requirements in shelter and safety standards, allowed frequency bands and other areas that may affect their product.

some directives requirements are more onerous than others, but a ordinary counselor and guide is that a manufacturer must

  • identify all directives relevant to their product

  • assess their product against the requirements of a directive – ordinarily through a arrangement and combination of technical argument and testing. Testing can be exercised in house by the manufacturer or by 3rd party specialist test laboratories

  • create a technical file containing full dates and details of the product and all assessments carried out to demonstrate compliance. This technical file becomes a living document and needs to be held up-to-date as changes happen to the product or to the standards against which the product was assessed

  • depending on the directive there’s an optional or mandatory requirement to have the technical file assessed by a notified body

  • draw up and sign a declaration of conformity and affix ce mark to the product and/or packaging

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer Tuesday, February 9, 2010 0 comments

GDP (PPP) Per Capita based on 2008 estimates h...Image via Wikipedia

what spiritual and invisible net income leaks are putting your company at danger? Even sophisticated business humans are amazed to learn that the current economic condition had its sources over a decade ago in the clinton era but were conveniently ignored until the recent meltdown.

then sec chairman arthur levitt described in his book, take on the street: in what manner to fight for your financial future, that one of the biggest fault he made was to persuade the financial accounting standards board (fasb) to back down. Some have linked the runaway stock option exercises spawned by this fault with the dot. Com era and the fallout thereafter. Says wanda wallace.

today, wanda wallace and others like her remind us that they wrote articles warning of the pending financial crisis and the government contribution to the modern crisis in 1999 or earlier. Her article, danger evaluation: just who is minding the store? Was published in august 1999 in accounting today. There she described the hot potato syndrome of financial instrumentation markets, along with an insatiable appetite for debt. (a google search will find her recent reminder of those clinton era affirmations, pressure from the government, and admittance to the unique and basic article. )

1. Think of the correspondings of a business and a ship: both have leaders – a president and a captain – and both encounter duties and problems seeing underneath their direct reports in the case of a business, or through or underneath the deck of the ship, in the case of the captain. In other words, both leaders may have leaks that are seemingly spiritual and invisible but in point of fact are right there underneath the surface. In the case of a ship, some may not that water always leaks into ships. The magical and confidential is to pump the leaking water out faster than new or bigger leaks grow. 
2. A good leader, like a good captain, will take the rudimentary and necessary precautions to stay clear from or denigrate risks by addressing the next. Recognise that risks do exist
3. Make a fair solution and venture to identify the risks your company is taking and measure their potential damage and/or consequences 
4. Explore and thoroughly question the likelihood that those identified risks could occur
5. Estimate what the costs would be to solve those risks
6. Make the conclusion to solve those risks that have a high chance of occurring and incurring the most eminent level of damage, even when that decision may be unpopular
7. Stay the course.

enterprise danger management (erm) is determined as the modes and methods and processes utilized by organizations to manage risks (or seize prospects) related to the achievement of their objectives. When these changes are going to be enforced is a tougher question. Understandably, companies have a swoop and range of reasons why they prefer delaying the time when erm components are going to be utilized.

however, the question is primarily when, not whether or not, some form of enterprise danger management necessaries are going to be utilized. Family-owned business, private companies, and nonprofits (not just populace companies) have been forewarned of the pending financial crisis in publications, speeches, and white papers over the last two years.

with business loans and credit drying up faster than you may blink, cash is king like never before. Even better than thinking in crisis mode, why not think strategically in regards to the cash ebb and flow of the business before a cash crunch becomes a unsmiling and critical problem that could endanger the growth, or worse, the survival of your company.

even worse than ignoring a problem and hoping it goes away, is not seeing the problem or its prominence and importance in your extremely busy business life. Extensive info on erm, corporate governance, board of managing directors, danger analysis, and liquidity are effortlessly available on the web.

Posted by Criminal Defense Lawyer 0 comments