Intellectual Property Basics

Not sure whether you need a patent, trademark or copyright? Our Intellectual Property Basics section has articles that cover this and more.

Recent Stories

Appropriating Copyrighted Works: When Is It Legal?
Nov 2011

Painter Darby Bannard once said that “Originality is way overrated. To make, you need to take. All great artists do.” Franklin P. Jones states that “Originality is the art of concealing your source.” And no less than Ernest Hemingway echoed this when he wrote that all modern literature comes from Huckleberry Finn.  So how much new art is truly original, and when does it matter? more...

Brilliant Idea? How to Protect It
Sep 2011

In the 1950's, Bette Nesmith Graham, mother of the Monkees' Michael Nesmith, came up with an ingenious new product that covered up mistakes she made on a typewriter. Her homegrown corrective fluid eventually became known as Liquid Paper, and was sold to Gillette for more than $45 million in 1979.

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Protecting Your Digital Assets in the Afterlife
Aug 2011

We’re more connected to the digital world than ever before. Businesses are using the Web to go global and people are using websites such as Facebook, Twitter or their blogs to communicate. The result is the ever-growing mass of digital assets—which is often left in cyberspace after you die. more...

Social Media's New Intellectual Property Challenges
Jul 2011

Sharing your photos online can be problematic—especially if you are hoping to retain your rights to credit and royalties. Photographer Daniel Morel learned this the hard way when his dramatic photos of the Haitian earthquake went viral—credited to someone else. more...