Entrepreneurship, Second Edition

13.5. Copyright

Copyrights cover all manner of writings, and the term writings is very broadly interpreted. It includes books, advertisements, brochures, spec sheets, catalogs, manuals, parts lists, promotional materials, packaging and decorative graphics, jewelry, fabric designs, photographs, pictures, film and video presentations, audio recordings, architectural designs, and software.

Exact copying is not always required in order to engage in infringement. For example, you can infringe a book without copying every word; the theme may be protected (even though upon successive generalizations the theme will devolve to one of seven nonprotectable basic plots). One example exists in the software area, where using the teachings of a book to write a program has resulted in copyright infringement of the book by the computer program. In another case, a program was infringed by another program even though the second program was written in an entirely different language and for an entirely different computer. Copyright, then, can sometimes be a good source of protection, but be careful: It doesn't generally protect engineering, inventions, marketing or advertising ideas, or business plans. The good news is that a copyright registration is easy to obtain, protection lasts a long time, and it is inexpensive (typically less than $500). But unless your business is related to some form of the arts (music, movies, books, photography) or software, copyright usually only offers very limited protection ...