Copy Right/Patent Registration

Copyright Defined

A copyright is a collection of individual rights that you automatically have once you create an original work that is fixed in a tangible medium like a photograph, a book, or an mp3 file. These rights include the right to reproduce the work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies, to perform the work publicly, and to display the work publicly.

As the copyright owner, you can transfer an individual right or multiple rights to one or more people or collectively transfer them to one or more people. This can be accomplished through licensing, assigning, and other forms of transfers. Being a copyright owner also allows you to control whether and how your work is made available to the public.

Copyright Protection

Copyright law automatically protects original works of authorship, such as books, articles, songs, photographs, sculptures, choreography, sound recordings, motion pictures, and other works. Copyright registration is not required but registering your work with the U.S. Copyright Office provides many benefits.

Patents Defined

A patent protects inventions. These inventions can include new and useful processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter as well as improvements to them. The primary goal of the patent law is to encourage innovation and commercialization of technological advances. Patent law incentivizes inventors to publicly disclose their inventions in exchange for certain exclusive rights.

Inventors can apply for and be granted a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Unlike the copyright registration process, the patent application process is expensive, complex, and time consuming and generally should not be attempted without the assistance of an experienced patent attorney or agent.

	Copyright	Patents
What’s Protected?	Original works of authorship, such as books, articles, songs, photographs, sculptures, choreography, sound recordings, motion pictures, and other works.	Inventions, such as processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter as well as improvements to these.
Requirements to be Protected	A work must be original, creative, and fixed in a tangible medium.	An invention must be new, useful, and nonobvious.
Term of Protection	Author’s life plus 70 more years.	20 years.
Rights Granted	Right to control the reproduction, making of derivative works, distribution, and public performance and display of the copyrighted works.	Right to prevent others from making, selling using, or importing the patented invention.