The Copyright Effect
"Making It"
Knowledge, Wisdom, and Guidance
by
David Hamilton


  Copyright
____________

Joel Denver is one of the most successful Entertainment Industry Representatives in the business today. He is the President and Publisher of www.allaccess.com which is a site that is visited by almost every one in the Radio and Records Industry. All Access offers news, talk between talent, the most up to date entertainment news offered to professionals, and most of all, a complete knowledge base for those of you who want to be informed in the recording industry... AllAccess.com offers theeee most extensive records for management agencies, entertainment companies, agencies, record labels, consultancy locations, and the who is who's directory. If you are seeking information on who is who, where people are, and contact information, www.AllAccess.com gives you the scoop. Since Joel Denver deals with every form of entertainment vice, you can learn more from him and his site than anywhere on the internet. Since Joel and his team deal with important entertainment content, music, intellectual property from the entertainment arena, I wanted him to briefly tell you some helpful down to earth information on copyright and how to start protecting yourself........

1. Can you tell the new up and coming talent the importance of copyright, and possibly where to get the full information needed.
 
It's vital that you always copyright your creativity no matter what it is you do. The last thing you want is for it to be ripped off and claimed by someone else.  If you are on a budget, there are several ways to go about it.  You can place your material ( songs, stories, trademarks, logos, publications, written conceptual ideas ) in an envelope and mail it to yourself!  When it comes in do NOT open it.  Save it!   Only open it in front of witnesses if you have a copyright infringement issue. In the meantime, save up $30-40 and the follow the steps below. The numbers are listed and all of the information can be sent directly to you to fill out and send back for copyrighting your material.
 
Also, you can visit a couple of sites that allow you to copyright your material fast.  Try  www.CopySite.com   or  www.legalzoom.com  

If you follow the steps below, you can have copyright forms, trademark, and patent information sent to your home within two to three weeks.

How do I copyright my material ?

Besides the above mentioned sites that will give you what you need, there is the professional way,

Step 1. call 1-202-707-3000 and get  the information you need for your specific interest. This number will also give you the current rates to copyright something specifically. For as little as $30.00 you can currently copyright your material, however you should call this number listed above before calling the order number below to make sure you have the correct information and rates. For instance, this book " Making It " was copy written twice, once by written conceptual idea, and the second by submission forms. Once you know exactly which type of copyright forms you will need.

Step 2.  call 1-202-707-9100 and order your forms for free. You will have access to forms for patents, trademark, and publication copyright forms. The forms take about two weeks to get to you, so in the meantime, mail yourself a copy of whatever it is you want to remain in your name until you have filed the right paper work to the copy right offices.  This is an inexpensive investment in your future, and very smart to do as soon as you write a song, come up with an invention, something you want to keep as your own identity....

You can also visit this site on the internet and get up to date copyright guidelines and information as to your specific information you want to copyright:

http://www.copyright.gov  

Whether it is a trademark you want copy written, a song, a script idea, a movie, a play, something you want to sell, an idea, a song, instrumental, ????????? this is the start. 

Another smart thing to do is contact an entertainment lawyer and have them do it legally for you. Click here and get the information from one of the best in the business. 

Last but not least, while you are waiting for paper work to go to and from, seal up your work and mail it to yourself from a service, like Fed Ex or Priority Mail as mentioned above, that way you have stamped and titled information as to when it was sent and that gives a time identity as to a round about time you have created your material. This holds up very thin, in the court of law, but it is good to do while you are waiting to get a real Copyright seal on your material. 

No matter how small the project is that your working on, copyright all of your intellectual property, your creative element, anything you write / produce / needs to be copy written and kept in case someone tries to steal your identity.

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