Copyrights, patents, trademarks and other legal terms can be confusing for authors and those in creative professions. But it’s important to be aware of what they mean, where they apply and if / when they can help. If some of the sections in this post get a little too technical, step out for a breath of fresh air, hear some birds chirping (original sounds work better than mobile ringtones) and come back to complete it.
Let’s start off with the definitions.
What is a copyright / trademark / patent?
Patent:
A patent is the sole right over an intellectual property that prevents others from producing, using, selling or distributing an invention.
E.g. if you have invented a machine that can read people’s thoughts and document them in 10 different languages (with spell-check), the first thing you’d do it patent it.
Trademark:
Trademarks can be words, symbols, sound or any indicator that uniquely identifies an entity (either a person, an organisation, a company). It is used by the trademark owner to communicate the origins of a product or service to all its stakeholders (consumers, partners, general public). The symbols (R) and TM (or SM for services) used along with the image indicates registered and unregistered trademarks respectively.
E.g. Volkswagen, Google, Pepsi, Reebok, MBA Crystal Ball are all trademarks.
Copyright:
Re-phrased, it defines who owns the ‘right to copy’ the original as well as derivative works. If you are an author, this is the one that’s relevant for you.
All these rights are territorial, which makes it tough for those who have works, products or services that might have universal audience to enforce it across countries.
Fortunately with copyrights, there are a few things that make life easier compared to the other intellectual property rights (IPR) protection mechanisms.
- Like the Bern Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, a treaty that protects the rights across 162 countries. So you could file the copyright registration application in India and get legal protection in countries where you have a bigger market (like USA, UK, or any other country).
- Cost: It is relatively cheap to get copyright protection in India if you do it on your own. Of course, the expense goes up if you involve IPR consultants.
- Time: Compared to the time taken to register trademarks, copyright registration is relatively quicker.
Copyright: How much does it cost & how long does it take?
I’ve gone through the process of registering copyrights (independently without professional help) as well as trademarks (I hired an IPR consultant who charged a hefty fee). For the former, my registration fee (50 rupees, if I recall correctly, but it was not for my book) was less than the courier charge.
Within 3 months I had the copyright certificate in my hands. For registering the trademark (for my commercial venture MBA Crystal Ball), it took about 1.5 years and several thousand rupees in legal fees.
But as a paranoid author who’s extremely possessive about your work, what about basic question?
Do I really need a copyright for my book manuscript?
By default, as the creator of a manuscript you automatically gain the rights over your work. So, a formal copyright registration process isn’t mandatory. But in case, there is a situation where you need to prove ownership and the date of creation, having a legal document in your possession can be beneficial.
Apart from the challenge of getting published, for authors the other BIG issue is piracy.
In the good old days when manuscripts were hand-written, you could argue that your handwriting expert to compare. But computers and the internet have added an element of sophistication and complication that’s difficult to comprehend.
Do you really think the digital pirate (which his eye-patch and hooked hand sitting in his untraceable ship in the sea) is going to care two hoots about whether you have copyright protection? If he sees a significant commercial upside and a relatively lesser probability of getting handcuffs around their wrists, you’ll find your novel being copied for free download or being circulated for a profit.
The other way to think about it is, you know robbers may have tools to break into your home at night, but that shouldn’t stop you from locking the doors before your sleep. Many authors and publishers have proactively cracked down on erring torrent websites to plug (or at least reduce) the losses wherever possible.
What’s your view? For your manuscript, do you think it would make sense to go for a copyright?
Disclaimer: Posts on this site are for information only. They do not constitute legal advice.
Comment By: Jaikishan Hirani
July 9th, 2012 at 8:18 am
Thanks for your updates Sameerbhai. They really help.
Comment By: R-A-J
July 9th, 2012 at 11:48 am
Hey Sameer, nice n informative one.. few questions -
can one copyright titles of book/ book name?
If I copyright the name “Ranjith Raj”, is it different from “RanjithRaj” (without space)?
How easy or difficult is the procedure of copyrighting names?
How much will it cost?
Comment By: Sameer
July 16th, 2012 at 1:48 pm
Raj,
With book titles, you’d need a Trademark, not a copyright.
And unlike copyrights, registering trademarks is a tedious, expensive process which I don’t think is needed when you are just starting off.
If your book becomes a hit and you start a series with similar titles, you could think about trademark registrations later.
Comment By: Shilpa Kadam
July 20th, 2012 at 5:50 pm
Hi,
I’m looking for lawyers who have experience in dealing with copyright cases.
I have written a non-fiction book. I have the manuscript ready. I haven’t approached any literary agent or a publisher yet. Since it is a non-fiction book most of the content was originally news and hence printed by newspapers. On the net I’ve researched a particular topic (law related) and written it in a story format (as in what happened next).
I’ve made it interesting but yes because of it being non-fiction and law related many lines had to be used as it is from the original articles. For example what was defence lawyer’s arguments etc.
I am not sure if I need to buy any kind of rights from the newspaper publishers. One of the newspapers (major source of reference) was bought over by some other publisher and then they re-started it with a new name and a new philosophy.
Please advice.
Regards
Shilpa
Comment By: Sameer
July 20th, 2012 at 7:02 pm
Hi Shilpa,
I can’t recommend any lawyers and considering the legal topics that your non-fiction book focusses on, your knowledge of legal frameworks would be much better than mine.
But what I can suggest is to look into the possibility of getting a simple permission from the newspaper that published it.
Alternately, if the amount of text reproduced in your book is very small, a source attribution should work.
Some copyright owners might ask for a re-publishing fee.
If you get a publisher, they should be able to help you out with the process.
If you get a publisher, they should be able to help you out with the process for all these scenarios.
Btw, I know an agent who’s looking for non-fiction books with commercial potential. If you are interested, send across a query letter (Add QUERY in the subject) to: info at mbacrystalball dot com
Comment By: Shilpa Kadam
July 20th, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Hey, Thanks a ton. Will mail. Yay…
Comment By: Vikas
August 4th, 2012 at 12:33 am
Hello Sameer,
How to get this copyright thing done ? You have not told us the way.
Comment By: Sameer
August 4th, 2012 at 10:15 am
Vikas,
The Copyright website has the details. Here are the direct links to the Copyright application workflow and checklist of documents.
Comment By: Aamrapali Bhogle Sonawane
August 16th, 2012 at 3:14 pm
Hi Sameer,
How important/relevant is it for debutant authors to get their manuscript copyrighted before sending it to publishers for perusal?
And if the manuscript does get selected for publishing eventually, would the publishers’ legal team prefer to tackle all copyrighting matters by themselves? In such a case, if the manuscript is already copyrighted by its author, would it hurt the publisher’s ego to know this?
Comment By: Sameer
August 16th, 2012 at 3:49 pm
Aamrapali,
Whether to copyright a manuscript or not is completely the author’s decision.
Publishers won’t care about it. And they will not do it before or after they publish the book. So, all in all, egos stay out of the picture.
If ego-hurting is really at the top of your priority list, there are many more creative and effective ways
Comment By: I V N vaibhav Reddy
January 6th, 2013 at 10:45 pm
How can we get the copyright for our book independently as you mentioned above. The one I consulted asked me to pay 5,100Rs and wait for 16 months for the certificate. So, please help me sir.
Comment By: Sameer
January 6th, 2013 at 11:01 pm
Vaibhav,
Consultants will always be more expensive.
If you manage it yourself, you can do it for a few hundred rupees. And you should get the certificate in 3-4 months.
Comment By: I V N Vaibhav Reddy
January 7th, 2013 at 5:24 pm
Thanks for your response, but I would like to know the way we can copyright it our self. I mean, I would like to know “how” to copyright it independently. Please explain the procedure, bro.
Thanks.
Comment By: Sameer
January 7th, 2013 at 5:59 pm
Vaibhav, if you scroll back up in the comments section, in my response to Vikas you’ll find the links to the official copyright website.
It explains the ‘how’ part, including the procedure and set of documents needed.