Copyright law protects the rights in a literary work, audio-visual work, or music material, such as scripts, films, pictures, music, or even software. This contrasts with trademark law, which protects the identifier of the source of goods or services, such as brand names, logos, or other identifying marks. As a whole, this is known as “intellectual property”, and is particularly important in the entertainment industry because it protects your rights in a project or to your business.
Copyright and trademark law can be highly complex, significantly varying situation to situation. Having a strong entertainment lawyer in your corner will help protect your script, film, or company from the many pitfalls in intellectual property law, allowing you to more efficiently leverage your work and generate revenue.
Our flat-fee, percentage, and hourly trademark and copyright legal services often include the following:
- Trademark Registration. Protect your brand name, logo, or mark from unauthorized use or counterfeits. (trademark search to determine the registerability of your mark, trademark applications for both intent to use and marks already in use, USPTO Office Action Responses, trademark maintenance).
- Copyright Registration. Protect your script, film, photographs, music, book, article, episode, or any other project. (Copyright Office registration)
- Cease and Desist Letters. Strong and forceful cease and desist letters from an attorney specifically tailored to the facts of your case send a clear message to stop trademark or copyright infringement.
- DMCA Take-Down Notice. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act can be leveraged to send notices to websites hosting infringing content and legally require them to remove the content. This is frequently utilized when a film is illegally hosted for download or streaming on a website and the copyright owner wants it immediately removed.
- Fair-Use Opinion Letter. Many films, such as documentaries, rely on the use of copyrighted materials and, as a result, need a fair-use opinion letter to secure distribution. More importantly, an entertainment lawyer will be able to help guide the use of those copyrighted materials to ensure the use properly meets the complex and vague requirements of fair-use.
Why Choose Us
- File a copyright or trademark application BEFORE you need to enforce your rights. Registration can take months, leaving your project or brand unprotected while the application processes. Additionally, registration provides additional protections, including the ability to collect attorney fees from the infringing party.
- DMCA Take-Down Notices can be highly effective at removing your film from infringing websites, thus detering further piracy.
Our firm has significant experience securing trademark and copyright protection, and then using those protections to stop infringement. Many clients believe infringement is bound to happen; however, they don’t realize piracy can be curbed or prevented.
“I never thought I would be able to protect my brand name effectively, but Andrew was able to successfully obtain USPTO protection and get the counterfeiters to stop.”
-CEO
“I was devastated to see my previous films pirated online. Andrew helped copyright my latest film and has been able to successfully take down infringing copies. I am so relieved.”
-Filmmaker
Schedule a FREE consultation today so we can discuss how our flat-fee options can save you time and money.