Even if your business is not in a creative industry, you could be at risk of copyright infringement, which occurs when someone uses intellectual property that belongs to you without your permission – often for financial gain.

When you hear about copyright infringement in the news, it most often relates to a song or artwork by a popular artist that has been used without permission. However, copyright infringement can also apply to images, text, and other content you use to promote your business and educate your customers.

It is important to familiarize yourself with copyright law for small businesses to ensure that your content is not misused and that you are not infringing on the rights of others. Use the steps below to protect your business from copyright infringement.

Copyright registration

The best thing you can do to protect your creative work is to do so copyright registration online or by post. It is never too early to file and register a copyright.

You might think that nobody has created a similar work before, but you could very well be wrong. The sooner you file to register the copyright, the sooner you can protect your work from being reproduced and distributed by another party – and at the same time prevent infringement of existing copyrights.

Applications to the US Copyright Office must include a non-returnable copy (or copies) of the original work, a filing fee, and the completed application form. These applications can be filed online through the Electronic Copyright Office or with paper forms sent by post. The Copyright Office also allows multiple works to be registered on the same application.

Exceptions to the rule include joint works (when independent contributions are put together into a collective whole), group registrations (when multiple series, such as a daily newspaper, meet the requirements for one registration application), and unpublished collections (for which the works share). name of at least one author). If you have further questions, please visit the United States Copyright Office website for more details.

Remember that registering a copyright is not the same as registering a trademark. Trademarks protect business names, slogans, logos, expressions and symbols. This type of intellectual property protection differs significantly from copyrights.

Get help from a copyright lawyer

If you registered your copyright, but someone else still infringes the work, the US Copyright Office advises entrepreneurs to contact a copyright attorney.

A copyright attorney will help answer questions related to copyright law and determine your legal options. Check with your local or state bar association if you don’t know where to find an attorney who specializes in your particular industry.

Legal fees can be quite expensive, so you may want to see if local offices offer smaller or pro bono services.

You may also consider reviewing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998 (DMCA). This protects the rights of copyright owners online. If your business, for example, notices that its copyright photographs are being distributed on another website without permission, the copyright author can submit a takedown notice to the website. Work with a legal professional to create and distribute an appropriate takedown notice.

Use the copyright symbol

If you have filed for copyright, then you can protect your works through a copyright notice. This notification contains three elements used in a continuous statement:

• The word “copyright,” the abbreviation “copper,” or the copyright symbol ©
• Year of first publication of the work
• Name of copyright owner

By using a copyright symbol, in addition to the other elements, your business publicly indicates to the world that the works associated with it are copyrighted.