Product Description

Have you invented a new or improved product - something that will change the course of our lives? Have you written a play, song, or book? Whatever you have created - before it can be presented to the world - must be protected with a copyright, patent or trademark.

The contents of this book are divided into three parts - Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights. Included in each section are the actual forms (that you can copy), instruction sheets, samples of completed forms, and even help-lines. It answers all these questions and more:

What is a patent? What is a trademark? What is a copyright? What can and can't be patented? How is a patent obtained? What forms must be filled out? Where do I get the forms I need? Where do I find the phone numbers of who to call if I have questions? How much does a patent cost? How long will it take to get a patent? How do I do a patent search?

This book can:

Protect your business, your business logo and the name of your business

Protect your music, your lyrics and the name of your band

Protect a word, phrase, symbol, or design

Protect your dramatic and literary works

Protect your choreographic works and motion pictures

Protect your architectural works

Protect your pictorial, graphic, and sculputural works, (such as maps, globes, charts, technical drawings, photographs, prints, and models)

Protect your published and unpublished literary works, (such as fiction, non-fiction, poetry, textbooks, reference works, dictionaries, catalogs, advertising copy, compilations of information, and computer programs)

Protect each individual of a serial, (such as periodicals, newspapers, annuals, journals, proceedings, transactions, etc. of societies)

Protect your new invention as well as the name of your new invention

Protect any new and distinct variety of plant(s)

Protect any new, original, and ornamental design

Protect any new and useful process, machine, manufacture and compositions of matter

Protect any new industrial or technical process

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1054970 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

About the Author
Scott Murphy graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1986 with a B.S. in Business Adminstration. Since 1994, he has been in retail management and is the inventor of a board game. Mr. Murphy lives in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he enjoys bowling, fishing and chess.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright Basics
What is Copyright?

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of "original works of authorship," including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;

To prepare derivative works based upon the work;

To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;

To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;

To display the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and

In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

In addition, certain authors of works of visual art have the rights of attribution and integrity as described in section 106A of the 1976 Copyright Act. For further information, request Circular 40, "Copyright Registration for Works of the Visual Arts."

It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright law to the owner of copyright. These rights, however, are not unlimited in scope. Sections 107 through 121 of the 1976 Copyright Act establish limitations are specified exemptions from copyright liability. One major limitation is the doctrine of "fair use," which is given a statutory basis in section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act. In other instances, the limitation takes the form of a "compulsory license" under which certain limited uses of copyrighted works are permitted upon payment of specified royalties and compliance with statutory conditions. For further information about the limitatitons of any of these rights, consult the copyright law or write to the Copyright Office.
Who Can Claim Copyright?

Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.

In the case of works made for fire, the employer and not the employee is considered to be the author. Section 101 of the copyright law defines a "work made for hire" as:
(1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or
(2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work, as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, as a translation, as a supplementary work, as a compilation, as an instructional text, as a test, as answer material for a test, or as an atlas, if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire....

The authors of a joint work are co-owners of the copyright in the work, unless there is an agreement to the contrary.

Copyright in each separate contribution to a periodical or other collective work is distinct from copyright in the collective work as a whole and vests initially with the author of the contribution.
Two General Principles

Mere ownership of a book, manuscript, painting, or any other copy of phonorecord does not give the possessor the copyright. The law provides that transfer of ownership of any material object that embodies a protected work does not of itself convey any rights in the copyright.

Minors may claim copyright, but state laws may regulate the business dealings involving copyrights owned by minors. For information on relevant state laws, consult an attorney.

Customer Reviews

Just not very helpful
This book contains many publicly available forms available on U.S. government websites that have been put together with little in the way of additional practical advice or insight.

For anyone with a marketable idea
The Russian scientist who invented the video game Tetris was unable to secure the rights to it, and so he never saw a dime of the millions of dollars his brainchild generated. If you have a great idea but want to avoid such an unfair fate, then you'll find Scott Murphy's The Inventor's Kit: A Complete Workbook For Filing U.S. Patents, Trademarks, And Copyrights to be the perfect reference. Divided into three parts, Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights, this book has everything to help new inventors navigate the often confusing realm of intellectual property ownership: actual forms, instruction sheets, samples of completed forms, and even help lines. The Inventor's Kit also answers countless common questions, including 'What can and can't be patented?' and 'How do I do a patent search?' A very highly recommended reference and workbook -- especially for anyone with a marketable idea....