The duration of the copyright is whichever deadline occurs first. For instance say someone writes a book anonymously in the year and the book gets published in . The two potential expiration years are years after it was created or years after it was published . The earlier year will be the copyright expiration year for that book. Understanding works made for hire Business owners should understand the “works made for hire” doctrine which is what happens when the copyright ownership belongs to an employer or commissioner as opposed to the creator.
As an employer you own the copyright to your employees’ work if they created it as part Email Marketing List of working for you. You also own the right to work that you hired an independent contractor to create for you. While work made for hire is an automatic transfer of ownership it’s helpful to get it in writing. You can ask your employees or contractors to sign a work-made-for-hire agreement to avoid any future conflict. How to obtain a copyright Unlike trademarks which have to be registered with the state or federal government copyrights exist the moment an applicable work is created.
In other words once you create something it’s yours. against copyright infringement you should register it with the US Copyright Office. Registering your work with the Copyright Office essentially establishes you as the author and owner of the work and it’s required if you want to sue anyone who distributes or uses it without your permission. To register a copyright you must submit a completed application filing fee and a deposit. Copyright fees vary depending on what you are copyrighting and whether you file an electronic or paper application. Fran Haasch attorney and founder of Fran Haasch Law recommends businesses and creative professionals register copyrights for their work.