I have some designs I want to protect from ripoffs before I make
a major effort to introduce them on the market. I have a rough
idea about copywriting and it seems to be the best approach. Has
anyone had direct experience with doing this and perhaps even
used the protection to stop someone from copying you? Are there
any excellant books or sources of further info? Does anyone know
a lawyer who has extensive experience in jewelry copywrite
protection? Thanks, Tom Kruskal
Quickly:
-
write the following words exactly as shown on photographs:
“Copyright © 1999 Tom Kruskal” -
You can file for a copyright (last time I check, $15 as
USPTMO) yourself -
You probably do not need a lawyer with extensiev experience
with jewelry issues, until you have soem sales of the product
under your belt.
Amongs others, the last piece of intellectual property that I
sold was the trademark for “PalmPoint” to a computer company that
thought the word “pilot” instead of “point” would be a good
product name. Guess they were right.
The rule of thumb is go sell the heck out of it while you can.
Mark Zirinsky, Denver, Colorado
Aloha Tom, Personally, I think copywriting a piece of jewelry, is
an exercise in self- abuse. The only one that will benefit, is
the attorney. Visual arts are protected by statutory copywrite,
meaning, you mark the piece with the copywrite mark and then go
after the person(s), that have infringed upon it. You must have
witnesses or documentation in regard to the creation of the piece
(mail the original to yourself is a cheap way or a notarized
journal with photos). Remember, there is really nothing new under
the sun (Besides,it may not be that great or inovative,anyway),
you cannot copywrite an idea, and if the prong, leaf, or whatever
is moved 1 mm, it is no longer, your design. The best thing is,
move faster than the competition (such as they are) and consider
knockoffs, as the highest form of praise and compliment (unless
you have time and money to burn). Life is short,Enjoy!!!
Best Regards,
Christian Grunewald
Precision Modelmaking
Hawaii
Tom, The copyright form and instructions are available from the
Library of Congress web site in PDF (Acrobat) format. It
currently costs $20 to file form VA (Visual Arts). For maximum
protection you should file the form within 90 days of producing
the design, otherwise you may be more limited in collecting
damages in any legal proceedings. I have used a firm in Boston,
Fish & Richardson, that specializes in trademark, patent, and
copyright law. They have offices in several parts of the
country. Filing copyright forms is only part of the solution-
having the money and stamina to go to Federal Court if necessary
is what will protect you in the long run. My copyright “guru” has
a nautical charm business and was knocked off quite regularly, but
has collected numerous times from the offending parties. Word
has gotten around that he defends his copyrights.
Rick Hamilton
Richard D. Hamilton
A goldsmith on Martha’s Vineyard
Fabricated 14k, 18k, 22k, and platinum Jewelry
wax carving, modelmaking, jewelry photography,
and sailing whenever I can…
http://www.rick-hamilton.com
i copyrighted a poem for use with some jewelry that i made. i
also applied for a patent on a piece of jewelry. you can contact
the patent and trademark office, assistant secretary and
commissioner of patents and trademarks, washington, d.c. 20231
and they’ll send you a booklet. i did the drawings myself and
applied without the help of an attorney. i followed the
directions in the booklet (good luck) and recently received a
letter that my patent is pending. they advise you to hire a
draftsperson and an attorney but i think you could do it yourself
if you’re so inclined. cost is under $200. for the patent (with
application indicating you are a small business…otherwise it’s
another few hundred, i believe). I seem to remember the
copyright costing about $20. good luck. there’s a lot of muck in
the booklet to sort through…
AJM published an article on registering a copyright in the
August, 1997 issue. It included step-by-step instructions for
filling out the form, a copy of the form you could photocopy and
submit, and advice on what is and what isn’t copyrightable.
(After reading the article, I was confident I could fill out the
form correctly.) The article was called “Registering Your Rights”
and it was written by a copyright and patent attorney named
Jeffrey Kaden. You should be able to get a copy of the article by
dropping them an e-mail at ajmmagazine@compuserve.com or by
cruising over to the Web site at http://mjsa.polygon.net/ajm.