Our Practice Areas: Copyrights

The Augustyn Law Office is able to help with all aspects of copyright law. From copyrighting your work to sending cease and desist letters for enforcement to licensing copyrights, the Augustyn Law Office provides thoughtful solutions by a copyright lawyer.

Please contact us for your Free Initial Consultation with a copyright attorney. We represent copyright clients throughout the United States. Below we explain about copyrights, you may also be interested in learning more about Trademarks which protect a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs

A copyright provides protections to the creators of "original works of authorship." These works include:

Literary Works (like books and poetry),
Sound Recordings (such as audio recordings of music, drama, or lectures),
Visual Arts (including artwork, logos, and other original pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works), and
Performing Arts (such as non-sound recording musical works, dramatic works, choreography, or motion pictures).

A copyright gives the author exclusive right and ability to prohibit or authorize others:

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 copyrighted 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.

A common law copyright is obtained merely by creating a work in a fixed form (such as recording your music or putting paint to canvas). As you may imagine, with no application process, this provides little protection.

Once a work is published the owner is legally required to deposit the work with the U.S. Copyright Office. Registration of the copyright fulfills this obligation. Upon publication you may use the copyright symbol identified by © or the "circle C" symbol to give notice of copyright. The notice should consist of the symbol, the year of first publication, and the owner of the copyright. For sound recordings, use the or "circle P" symbol (P stands for phonorecord) instead of the "circle C." Unpublished works can contain a copyright notice, but must say "unpublished" in addition to the name, year of creation, and owner.

There are significant benefits of registering a copyright:

You give constructive notice to the public that you claim ownership of the work.
You must register before you can file a suit for infringement.
If made before or within 5 years of publication, registration will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate.
If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner. Statutory damages for infringement can be much more than actual damages.
Registration allows the owner of the copyright to record the registration with the U. S. Customs Service for protection against the importation of infringing copies.
Registration in foreign countries becomes easier.

Please contact us for your Free Initial Consultation with a copyright lawyer or if you would like to arrange other methods of payment.

We represent copyright clients throughout the United States

The Augustyn Law Office is a Lincoln, Nebraska, law firm dedicated to meeting your needs.

Augustyn Law Office, P.C. LLO
770 North Cotner Boulevard
Suite 114
Lincoln, NE 68505 (see map)

Phone: (402) 464-4326
Email: Contact Us

Please note: No attorney/client relationship is formed until we have a signed retainer agreement. This website explicitly complies only with the Lawyer Advertising Regulations in Nebraska.

Our Practice Areas:

Wills, Trusts, & Estates
Real Estate
Trademarks
Copyrights
General Business, Corporate, & Partnership
Business & Corporate Transactions
Business & Corporate Formation
Business & Corporate Litigation
Contracts
Entertainment Law
Sports Law
Internet & Technology
Personal Injury

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Our Practice Areas: Copyrights

Please note: No attorney/client relationship is formed until we have a signed retainer agreement. This website explicitly complies only with the Lawyer Advertising Regulations in Nebraska.

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