Hi guys,
I was wondering how photographers and artists copyright and trademark their pictures, logos, and other images. I recently had an idea and collaborated with some friends to turn the idea into something and it is turning out better than any of us expected. The thing I'm concerned about is somebody who had nothing to do with the project filing for the copyright or trademark when I'd really like for everybody to be able to use it.
What type of copyright or trademark would I need and how do I apply for one? I tried googling the information but there was a lot of different information and I didn't know which sources to trust.
Pic unrelated.
http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/trademark-basics
Start there, there is a video. I have no idea how to patent something but I would start with the same link. I'm assuming if you're serious you would want to find a lawyer that specializes in that just like the page says.
>>80345
thank ye thank ye
>>80323
>I'd really like for everybody to be able to use it.
Do you mean everybody-as-in-everybody, or everybody-as-in-you-and-a-few-people-you-like-doing-things-you-approve-of?
If it's the former, license the actual work as Creative Commons, GPL, or BSD, and you're done. Everyone can use it, no-one can misrepresent the authorship, and so long as it's being used by lots of people for whatever purpose you're intending, no-one can trademark it out from under you.
If it's the latter, you'll need to think about what it is you actually want, and speak to a lawyer.
>>80323
You don't apply for copyright, it automatically comes into being when you pin an original work into a fixed form.
For instance, by pressing post, I create a copyrighted work. There's implied licenses in situations like this, and it'd be hard for me to sue anyone for copyright infringement, but in principle anyone's copying this post is infringing copyright.
The hard task in western countries is not copyrighting works, but giving them away. If you want other people to be able to exercise any of your reserved rights, you need to explicitly grant them permission with a license.
You might be tempted to write your own license or copyright grant. This is a terrible idea: you're not a lawyer, and you will fuck it up. Anyone wanting to use your work will first have to do legal work on your license to see what it actually means, what the ambiguities mean, what you probably meant it to mean, and if they can actually comply with it.
Whereas if you pick an existing license that means what you want it to mean, then all anyone needs to do is look at the grant and say "Oh, it's CC (or whatever), that's cool".
>>80394
I did indeed mean the former. I don't care who uses it as long as one party can't monopolize it.
