NYCC 2009: Intellectual Property Primer
One of the concerns for comic book creators is is protecting their rights. In support of that, New York Comic-Con had a panel on Saturday called "Intellectual Property 101", put on by three lawyers in the entertainment business. Thomas A. Crowell, Sheafe B. Walker, and Walter-Michael Lee, attorneys specializing in entertainment law and intellectual property, gave an overview and answered questions from the audience.
Several forms of rights are involved. The first is copyright. Under current copyright law, a work is copyrighted automatically upon creation. In the United States, copyrights are valid for the life of the creator plus 70 years. In "work for hire contracts", copyrights may be for 95 or 120 years.
There is no requirement have anything special in the work such as a copyright symbol, or to register it to have a copyright. However, registration of copyright was strongly recommended. Copyright registration establishes a formal legal record of a copyright’s existance, dating from when registration was made, and gives you greater ability to collect damages if the copyright is infringed. The "poor man’s copyright" practice of mailing yourself a copy of your work to establish copyright was dismissed as obsolete and not doing anything useful.
Copyright registration can be handled on line by going to http://www.copyright.gov/register, or using paper forms. The Copyright Office encourages online registration, and charges less for it. Online registration has a $35 fee, whereas paper forms will cost $45. You will need to provide contact information for the copyright holder, a copy of the work being copyrighted, and the fee.
In answer to a question, it was stated that you could use one copyright registration to copyright an entire series, as in a continuing comic book. There was no requirment for a sperate filing and fee for each issue. It is also possible, though rare, to get a copyright on a work in progress that is not yet completed.
Partnerships and work-for-hire agreements present special challenges.
