Protecting Your Artwork

What Jewel Wants You to Know About Copyright

Your artistic creations are the assets upon which you have built your brand and business. Every one of your creations has the potential to generate revenue. To protect your royalty revenue stream and allow for copyright infringement enforcement, Jewel strongly recommends that you register your work with the US Copyright office. Protecting your artwork allows you to collect higher damages in the event of an infringement, deter potential infringers from copying your work and makes you a more attractive artist to licensees. Jewel recommends you file copyrights for your work. If money is an issue pick your most popular and/or appealing works and register those first, then register the rest of your portfolio as your finances permit.

Copyright 101

Trademark and copyright counterfeiting costs the US economy an estimated $250 billion annually.

If you have an appealing design or image out in the public, there is a good chance that someone has at least considered using it without your permission

Discovering infringements can be frustrating, but doing something about them can prove very rewarding. With the right knowledge and preparation, you can stop infringements, protect your images, keep licensees happy, and in some cases, collect damages. You should be protecting your valuable assets by registering your copyrights.

Although you already own the copyright in every work that you have created (an artist’s copyright is formed the moment they complete the creation), you haven’t really “insured” those works until you formally register your copyright with the US Copyright Office.

You can always stop an infringer, and possibly receive a settlement payment without a copyright registration, however, a copyright registration provides extra benefits. These benefits come in the form of statutory damages and the possibility of attorney fees. The filing fee for a registration is $35 for a single published work or $55 for a collection of unpublished works. That’s a small investment for the added protection.

Copyright registration is a relatively straight forward process. An attorney experienced in Copyright Law should be able to assist you inregistering your works either by generally training you to take on the task of registering your portfolio for you. Jewel recommends reaching out to Jason to assist with your copyright needs.  If you have additional questions please contact Leslie Gordon at leslie@jewelbranding.com