What Every Marketer Needs to Know about Trademarks

Every marketer needs to know some basic facts about trademarks to ensure the brand she is building has protection. Here is a short course in trademark law that will allow you to understand some basic concepts.

Fair Use is an Exception to Copyright Law

I am frequently asked by clients if they can make use of someone else’s intellectual property. The myths abound. Here are three: Just because it’s an educational use doesn’t mean it’s a fair use (although it helps). Just because something lives in the public eye doesn’t mean it’s not protected by copyright or other intellectual property laws. (Consider the Hollywood Sign which is protected by trademark law.) Just because you’ve taken less than 10% of a work doesn’t mean you aren’t infringing on the copyright for that work

Copyright owners also operate under misconceptions. The most common mistake is believing that when a third party cannot prove fair use, its use of a copyrighted work will be considered infringing.

Artists’ Intellectual Property Builds Art Licensing Business

Artists focus on their creativity, their technique, and their product. If, however, you are looking to license your art, you should be equally focused on protecting your intellectual property. Your copyrights and trademarks are the lifeblood of your art licensing business and the foundations for all your branding initiatives. In this blog post, I answer some common questions artists ask about copyrights, trademarks, and branding.

The Why’s of Exclusive Art Licensing Arrangements

In any contract negotiation, if the goal is to reach an agreement, both parties should consider the “why” of their positions. Contracts typically address the who, what, when, and where, but they rarely address the “why” in more than a perfunctory manner with a few broad “whereas” clauses. At the same time, when parties are stuck in their negotiations (either before they enter into a contract or during the contract), if they consider the “why” behind their positions, they are more likely to reach consensus.

Evaluating Art Licenses: How to Tell if You Have a Good Deal

In a recent discussion on the LinkedIn group “Art of Licensing,” an artist asked group members to evaluate whether an agent had offered her a “good deal” based on the percentages of compensation. Artists and agents, alike, chimed in with their thoughts on the percentages and what makes for good representation in the art licensing field. As I followed the discussion, I thought about the questions that clients frequently ask me about proposed contracts and what questions they ought to be asking. In this post, I will focus on licensing agreements rather than representation agreements, although some of the issues certainly overlap.

Pinterest’s Updated Terms: Copyright Concerns Continue

Last Friday, Pinterest released its updated Terms of Service, declaring that these terms “are easier to understand and better reflect the direction our company is headed in the future.” So that raises the question: where is Pinterest headed?