1. {
Ascentage Law, PLLC
Legal services for creative minds
Email: mab@ascentagelaw.com
Cambridge, Massachusetts USA
Phone: +1-617-475-1603
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA
Phone: +1-603-227-0500

2. Ñ Ascentage Law is a boutique business, IP, &
licensing firm located in Cambridge, Massachuse?s
USA and Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA.
Ñ What type of legal work do we do?
Ó Patents
Ó Copyrights
Ó Trademarks
Ó Licensing
Ó Corporate/business law
Ó Publishing law
Firm Background

3. {
{
What it is:
Ñ Educational
Ñ Informational
Ó Please ask quesitons
but keep them
general so they can
apply to everyone!
Ñ Fun
What it is not:
Ñ An analysis of the
quality of your work
Ñ A guarantee people
will buy your work
Ñ The end-­‐‑all, be-­‐‑all on
legal issues and advice
Ñ The creation of an
a?orney-­‐‑client
relationship
Tonight’s workshop

4. {
Ñ I can protect the title of my
book just like I can protect
the name of my business.
Not really…
Myth #1

5. {
{
Trademark Law
Ñ “A word, phrase, symbol or
design, or a combination of
words, phrases, symbols or
designs, that identifies and
distinguishes the source of
the goods of one party from
those of others.”
Ñ Examples
Ó FedEx, McDonald’s, Big Mac,
Pizza Hut, Pepsi
Copyright Law
Ñ “Original works of
authorship fixed in a
tangible medium of
expression”
Ñ Examples
Ó Books, poetry, artwork,
musical lyrics, musical
compositions, computer
code, pictures
Copyright v. Trademark

6. But wait…what about the
“For Dummies” series…

7. Copyright Law 101
Ñ What rights do I have to my
work under copyright law?
Ó Reproduction right -­‐‑-­‐‑ the right to
make copies of a protected work
Ó Distribution right -­‐‑-­‐‑ the right to
sell or otherwise distribute copies
to the public
Ó Right to create adaptations
(called derivative works) -­‐‑-­‐‑ the
right to prepare new works
based on the protected work, and
Ó Performance and display rights -­‐‑-­‐‑
the rights to perform a protected
work (such as a stageplay) or to
display a work in public.
Ñ NOTE: There are a few more but
these are the main ones
Ñ What does copyright
NOT protect?
Ó Ideas
Ó Facts
Ó Individual book titles

8. {
Ñ A copyright filing is not
necessary for protection.
No…yes…sort of.
Myth #2

9. Ñ Establishes public record of claim
Ñ Must file before infringement lawsuit in US
Ñ If done w/in 5 years of publication, “prima
facie” evidence of ownership
Ñ If done w/in 3 months of publication, statutory
damages & a?orney’s fees can be awarded
Ó Without this only actual damages & profits
Ñ US Customs Service registration
Benefits of Copyright
Registration

10. Ñ Process
Ó eFile -­‐‑ $35
Ó Paper – Form TX
Ñ Ownership
Ó Single authorship
Ó Co-­‐‑authorship
Ó Work made for hire
Ñ Duration
Ó Generally = Life of the author + 70 years
Ó Works made for hire, anonymous, or pseudonym =
95 from first publication OR 120 years from
creation, whichever is first
Registering your
copyright is easy!

11. Ñ Insert a copyright notice
Ó Copyright 2013 Mitchell A. Bragg. All rights
reserved.
Ñ Location
Ó Title page, inside of the title page, the page
immediately following the title page
Ó Bo?om of website
Ó On fliers / handouts
What if you still do not want
to register your work?

12. {
Ñ I can use the work of someone
else as long as I give credit.
Ñ I can use the work of someone
else as long as it is on the
internet.
Ñ I can use the work of someone
else as long as I use less than
20%, less than 3 lines, or less
than 3 notes.
No.
Myth(s) #3

13. Ñ Public domain works = all works published in
the U.S. before 1923
Ó After that it can get tricky…
Ñ What about the less than 20%, 3 cord, 3 line, etc.
“rules”?
Ó They are not true.
Ñ When in doubt, get permission!
What can I use that is made
by others?

14. Ñ What is it?
Ó Makes it legally permissible for you to use a
copyrighted work without permission for purposes
such as commentary, criticism, parody, news
reporting, and scholarship
Ñ Factors
Ó the purpose and character of the use, including
whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for
nonprofit educational purposes;
Ó the nature of the copyrighted work;
Ó the amount and substantiality of the portion used in
relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;
Ó and the effect of the use upon the potential market
for or value of the copyrighted work.
What about “fair use”?

15. {
Ñ I can write about whatever
and whoever I want if I say
it is fiction.
No.
Myth #4

16. Defamation
Ñ Definition
Ó A legal claim
involving injury to
one'ʹs reputation
caused by a false
statement of fact
Ñ Publication of the statement
Ó Something was communicated to a third-­‐‑
party
Ñ Statement is about the plaintiff
Ó It need not name the person explicitly if
there is enough to ID the person)
Ñ The statement harmed the reputation of
the plaintiff
Ó This means that it more than just insulting,
it must do more, such as lower the person
in the esteem of his peers or cause injury to
his business/trade)
Ñ Published with some level of fault
Ó This means the defendant failed to do
something he should of done or did
something he should not have done)
Ñ No applicable privilege applies
Ó public officials, public figures or ma?ers of
public concern

17. Ñ Common Defenses
Ó Pure opinion
Ó Fair comment
Ó The truth
Defamation

18. {
{
Libel
Ñ Wri?en
Slander
Ñ Spoken
Types of Defamation

19. {
{
Invasion of Privacy
Ñ Definition
Ó Publishing private
facts about an
individual, the
publication of which
would be offensive to
a reasonable person,
so long as the facts are
not “newsworthy”
False light, rights of publicity, &
misappropriation
Ñ Definition
Ó Protect people from
offensive and false
facts stated about
them to the public
Ó Protect people from
false endorsements
Other concerns when sharing
facts about others

20. {
Ñ I can’t do this on my own.
No.
Myth #5

21. Ñ Legal books
Ó The Fine Print of Self Publishing by Mark Levine
Ó The Copyright Handbook by Stephen Fishman
Ó Patent, Copyright, & Trademark by Richard Stim
Ñ Websites/blogs
Ó Citizen Media Law Project –
www.citmedialaw.org
Ó Stanford Fair Use – fairuse.stanford.edu
Ó U.S. Copyright Office circulars– h?p://
www.copyright.gov/circs/
Resources

22. {
Ascentage Law, PLLC
Legal services for creative minds
Email: mab@ascentagelaw.com
Cambridge, Massachusetts USA
Phone: +1-617-475-1603
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA
Phone: +1-603-227-0500