by eclewis | Jun 23, 2011 | Business News, IP Law, Online/Social Media Law
Whenever I give a talk on online marketing law, social media law, or intellectual property law, the first question I try to answer (and many times am asked), is exactly what is a copyright? The U.S. Copyright Office describes copyright as “a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression” covering both published and unpublished works. To be more specific, copyrights typically cover artistic works such as drawings, literature, paintings, and photos. When looking at the online world, it covers areas such as blog postings, music, photos, software, website content, and videos.
To get a copyright, one only has to put the idea to paper (or in our modern age, on your computer, laptop, iPad, etc) – for instance, as soon as I wrote down this blog post, I had a copyright in this blog post. The picture attached to it is one that I took – and I received a copyright in that photo as soon as I took it. I did not have to register anything, I did not have to pay anything for the copyright, I did not have to do anything except have the idea and put it in a tangible form (i.e. take the photo, write the blog post, sing the song). However, in many cases, I may want to register the copyright to gain additional rights in the work and to help prove the work is mine.
To register a work that I have created, I have to file with the U.S. Copyright Office. Depending on what I am registering, I may have different forms or different filing costs. In most cases, it costs around $35.00 (although the fees may be more) and can be done online. Once I have registered my work (for instance lets say, this blog post), I have additional statutory damages I can claim. That means that if someone uses my blog post without permission (aka commits copyright infringement), I can get higher damages in a court case than I could if the work was not registered. In addition, in many cases, I am entitled to attorney fees making my case my appealing to attorneys to take.
To summarize – a copyright is a right in an authored work that is put into some type of tangible form (a book, a photo, a video, a website). You get a copyright in the authored work as soon as you put it into tangible form – you do not need to register it to have a copyright. However, you may want to register it as it may be difficult to prove the work is yours (even if you send yourself a “Poor man’s copyright version”) if you do not register it and registration gives you rights to additional damages.
If you have questions about whether a work you have created has a copyright on it or whether you should register the copyright, contact your Denver business attorney, Elizabeth Lewis today at 720-258-6647 or Elizabeth.Lewis at eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Jun 2, 2011 | Business News, Random Thoughts
In a recent news article on 9news.com, the Colorado Free University’s “Un-Job Fair” was reported as the place to help individuals land their “Dream Job”. 9news reporters talked about how it was encouraging to have a forum where people could talk about starting (or growing) their businesses. As mentioned in the segment, 15 experts will be there to talk about small business and I am honored to be one of the experts speaking to those individuals who want to start their own business. As a contributor last year when I spoke about online marketing law for small businesses, I will be presenting a high-level overview of business law for those starting a business. As always, if you need specific legal help, please email or call me, your Denver business attorney!
by eclewis | May 31, 2011 | Business News, IP Law, Misc. Legal Tidbits, Online/Social Media Law
There are multiple events coming up this month that me, your Denver business lawyer, will be at that may be of interest to you:
June 4, I will be at the UnJob Fair at Colorado Free University. I will be presenting on legal issues for small business owners as part of this information-packed day.
June 7, I will be presenting my first Brown Bag for the Denver Small Business Development Center on online liability issues for small businesses.
June 11, I will be presenting on online liability issues when blogging for B4W4.
June 15, I will be presenting employment law issues at Front Range Community College.
June 17, I will be the featured speaker at the Social Media Meetup.
For more information about any of the above, or if you need help with your small business, please email me, your Denver business attorney, at elizabeth.lewis at eclewis.com!
by eclewis | May 16, 2011 | Business News, Online/Social Media Law
In an interesting case, a small business owner has been found guilty of sending threatening communications, mail fraud, and wire fraud. Digital Life is reporting that Vitaly Borker pleaded guilty to harassing customers in email, including threatening to come to their houses to assault them if they complained about his business. In an interesting side note, Digital Life also says that when customers complained on other sites, it drove Borker’s website higher in the Google rankings. However, that is probably little consolation now that he is facing six years in prison.
The lesson from this case – be careful what you say in emails to your customers! If you have questions about making sure you are legally okay online, contact your Denver business attorney today at 720-258-6647!
by eclewis | May 5, 2011 | Business News
In an interesting story from the Denver Post, a Colorado medical marijuana company has made the headlines not for selling marijuana, but for selling interest in the company on Craiglist. Colorado Wellness Providers, LLC has been sent a cease and desist order for selling “unregistered securities”. The company was attempting to raise $50,000.00 in funds to finish a project and offered “excellent returns on a short term investment” in the Craiglist ad. While the type of company that was involved (an MMJ business) helped get the story into the news, it is a lesson for all small business owners to consult an attorney prior to trying to sell their business to ensure that they don’t end up in the cross hairs of the Colorado Securities Commission. For more information on selling your Colorado business, call your Colorado business attorney today at 720-258-6647!
by eclewis | Apr 25, 2011 | Business News
This week Colorado celebrates Money Smart Week. The goal of the week is to help adults, business owners, and even children learn how to be better about their money. As many of my readers know, I am going to be presenting to Mommy Meeting tonight on the five biggest mistakes women in business make. Coincidentally, one of the biggest mistakes I see women (and for that matter men) make is not planning financially for starting a business, running their business, and then for after they no longer have their business.
So how do you plan financially? When you start a business, make sure you have money to pay for the start-up costs and run the business for several months without a profit (best would be for one year with no profit). When you are running your business, save extra funds when you have a good month for unexpected costs or down months. To help plan for your future, start saving for retirement even if it is only $100.00 a month. And prior to saving that money, speak with your accountant and financial planner to make sure that you take advantage of the special retirement accounts for business owners.
For more information about events going on this week to help you learn about money, visit http://www.moneysmartcolorado.com. If you need help with your business, call me, your Denver Small business attorney, at 720-258-6647!
