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Sending a Bill When Someone Steals Your Work
Mushroom? by Oslo in the Summertime from Flickr I’m a member of a Facebook group for people to discuss and share instances where other people use their work. Most of the members are nature...
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FAQs about the Legalities of Social Media
Carter Law Firm’s Official Postcard – Let me know if you want me to send you one. I had the pleasure of speaking at the Public Relations Society of America’s Western District Conference last weekend. I...
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Should Star Wars Fans Fear Disney Cease & Desist Letters?
Yoda statue outside Lucasfilm – The Presidio by kennejima from Flickr May 4th is Star Wars Day. May the 4th be with you! In light of this geeky holiday and the fact that I will be speaking about the...
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How To Trademark a Business Name
Can programming language names be trademarks? by opensourceway from Flickr Last week a friend asked me if a business could trademark their name. Anyone who’s spent much time with me knows that the...
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New Stance on Blog Copyright Registration
Hey you! by QuinnDombrowski from Flickr Grrr . . . It seems like every time I call the Copyright Office with a question about blog copyrights, I have to change my stance on how and whether anyone...
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How Work Made for Hire Contracts Work
Photographer Devon Christopher Adams at Ignite Phoenix #10, photo by Joseph Abburscato used with permission If you have ever hired a third party to do photography, video work, web design, graphic...
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Poor Man’s Copyright Doesn’t Work
Self-Addressed Envelope after it’s been through the Mail Every time I speak about copyright to a group of artists or writers, someone always asks me about how poor man’s copyright works and whether...
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Creepy New Facebook Terms of Service Coming
Facebook Flower by mkhmarketing from Flickr (Creative Commons License) When I got the notice that Facebook was updating its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and its Data Use Policy, I didn’t...
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Guerrilla Movie Shot at Disney Parks
Escape from Tomorrow – Image from EscapeFromTomorrow.com This is one of the most innovative projects I’ve heard about this year – Escape from Tomorrow – a film that was mostly shot at Disneyland and...
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Can You Trademark a Hashtag?
Rémi Beaupré, Meme Snippets, 2012 by Retis from Flickr (Creative Commons License) I spoke at TechPhx on Social Media Horror Stories from the Legal Trenches. One of the stories I told was Turner Barr’s...
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Burning CDs and Copyright Law
CD Reflections by spcbrass from Flicker (Creative Commons License) One of my favorite minimalists shared a post by Lindsay Schauer about the eight things you can live without on Twitter last week, and...
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To Watermark or Not To Watermark
How to Create a Watermark in Photoshop by Michele M. F. from Flickr (Creative Commons License) I was recently asked to talk about whether there are benefits to putting a watermark on your photos before...
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Why You Have to Respond to Suspected IP Infringement
Cease and Desist by H.L.I.T. from Flickr (Creative Commons License) A few weeks ago we all had a good laugh when Jeff Briton, owner of Exit 6 Pub and Brewery in Cottleville, Missouri got a cease and...
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Highlights on Copyright & Publishing from the Indie Author Conference
Rockin’ my Magic Red Chucks at the Changing Hands Indie Author Conference – Photo by Jeff Moriarty (used with permission) I had the pleasure of speaking at the Changing Hands Indie Author Conference...
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Be Leery of Free Image Sites: You May Inadvertently Commit Copyright...
Palm Sunset by Lawrence Rayner from Flickr (Creative Commons License) I cringe every time I hear people says they use Google Images to find pictures for their websites because I know most of them are...
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How to Register a Trademark with the USPTO
USPTO Seal by cytech from Flickr (Creative Commons License) I’ve had several people ask me what is involved in registering a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Your trademarks...
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Can You Trademark & Copyright a Phrase?
What’s not wrong with PIPA or SOPA? by opensourceway from Flickr (Creative Commons License) I saw this tweet come through my feed over the weekend. RT @ilenegold: @fatgirlphd Please tell me you have...
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Legal Issues if you Outsource your Blog Content
Content Writer by Ritesh Nayak from Flickr (Creative Commons License) I don’t believe in outsourcing my blog content, but I understand that some people do because they’re busy, or they’re afraid...
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U.S. Copyright Office is Raising its Filing Fees on May 1, 2014
Burning Nature by Vinoth Chandar from Flickr (Creative Commons License) Last week, the U.S. Copyright Office announced that it is raising its fees to register your work. Effective May 1, 2014, the cost...
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Register Your Copyright Before You Self-Publish
Eero facepalmaa by Tuomas Puikkonen from Flickr (Creative Commons License) A few days ago, a friend and fellow author posted on Facebook that someone put his book online as a free download without his...
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