Adam Keilen

What is Copyright protection? Does my Business/Company have any rights?

Copyright protection grants certain rights to authors of “original works of authorship.” The protected work includes literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual works, for example, the creative designs of architects/builders. So if you wrote something, created original artistic work, authored a new design, or some other form of creative work, you should explore your rights; however, employees also have certain rights to their work, unless it is otherwise effectively assigned. Ultimately, copyright protection is a powerful form of intellectual property, should you ever need to protect it in Court. As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. Copyright registration is inexpensive, easy, and very powerful. It is a great way to build equity into what your business likely already has…its creative work.