Copyright done right- Top 6 ways to protect your copyright
What is a copyright?
Copyright refers to the protection that creators have over various works, such as literary works, artistic works, creative works etc. These include creations such as books, songs, etc. According to international law copyright protection is automatic and the item created enjoys copyright status as soon as it is created. See the Berne Convention of 1979.
Ways that you can protected your copyright.
However, there are ways that you can protected your copyright.
Name the work created
To make sure that your copyright is protected you should naming it. If its a book make sure to come up with a name for the book or poem. This way it becomes easy to identify and differentiate with other copyright works created by other people.
The importance of a name is something that cannot be overstated. For example, Maya Angelou’s Poem titled ‘Still I Rise’. The name of the poem title is associated with the writer.
Write your name
It is important to always know who the creator of the copyright is. There it is very crucial to always write your name when you create work so that it can be easy to identify and prove that the work was created by you.
For instance, when we look at books, notice how they always include the names of the authors? This is so that it can be clear who created the book and who owns the copyright for that book.
State the date which it was created
It is important to always indicate the date which the copyright was created. This date is important as it will indicate and guide you on how long your work can be protected. For instance, songs enjoy copyright protection for the duration of the life of the writer + 70 years.
Examples of copyright material that are public domain include:
- Books – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Movies – It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
- See more here.
Write copyright protected
The other way to indicate that your creation is protected by copyright is by writing on it that it is protected by copyright.
Some of the writings you can put on your copyright are:
- Copyright protected
- Protected by copyright
- No unauthorized use without permission
- ©️
All these writings will indicate that if anyone where to doubt the copyright protection, they will at least have been informed well in time of such.
Instances of copyright infringement include the Ed Sheeran case. Where there was an accusation that his song Thinking Out Loud copied Let’s Get It On, a song co-written and performed by Marvin Gaye. However, he successfully won that case.
Register the copyright with relevant authorities
Lastly, you can also register your copyright. There are various platforms where you can register your copyright. This will ensure that that people can use your creation fairly and still acknowledge you as the creator. This also helps to ensure that when your work is being used you can be duly paid for it.
Some countries also have offices where you can register your copyright. For instance, in Botswana copyright work is registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) and to claim royalties a society called CosBots Botswana was created. The benefits of registering at CosBots Botswana is so that artists can be compensated for fair use of their works. Also it acts as a registry to record some of the copyright work that has been created by the artist.
In America, copyright is registered at the US copyright office.
Make it easy for people to contact you
Another way to protect your copyright is to make it easy for people to contact you. This can be in a form of an email, social media accounts or a contact form if you have a website.
This will ensure that people who want to use your work can easily contact you to request permission to use your work. This also allows you to be able to manage how your work is being used and distributed so that it is aligned with the way you intended it to be used when your first created it.
That is why all books have contact details so that you can either keep in touch with the author or contact them to seek their permission before you use their copyright protected works.
Copyright everything
Copyright protection is very important and with the rise of the use of Artificial Intelligence, it is now more than ever more significant. Be sure to protect your works and get them registered.
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