Copyright patents are basically there to grant people exclusive ownership to their artistic work and inventions. Because they own their work solely, other people are restricted to capitalize on their hard work. It means other people cannot use their invention, their books or songs for reproduction and reselling. Other people definitely have no right to own their work as well.
Copyright Patents: The Same or Not?
Well, the main purpose of copyrights and patents is quite the same. As stated above, copyright patents protect inventors and artists from other people who may steal the credit of producing such invention or artistic work. Other people may also make and use their works for their own benefit. Many would attempt to import and sell the same products.
The main difference between copyrights and patents lies on the different kinds of property, such protection is given. Copyrights are given to protect creative artistic expression. Patents, on the other hand, are given to inventions. These are the machines, methods and other products people invent and design.
And since each is different from the other, the total monopoly inventors and artists or writers get to their invention and works of art would also differ. But when both are violated, inventors and artists or writers can legally pursue the violators and collect damages. Getting official copyright patents, however, are not easy and fast. One must apply for it and go through the whole application process until a copyright and patent is officially granted.
More on Copyrights
When people mention copyrights, it generally means the government is restricting other people from reprinting or reproducing the original work. Only the writer, composer, playwright, publisher or distributor can legally reproduce or use the material for commercial purposes or exhibition.
However, expressions of art can only be granted copyrights if they are in tangible form. A song, for example, should be written or recorded to get a copyright. Book and magazines should be written first before they can be copyrighted. Paintings, drawings and photographs, of course, can be copyrighted.
The symbol "c" or the word "Copyright" usually denote that the work is protected by a copyright. It would usually be followed by the name of the artist. Then the date of its first publication would come next.
The copyright protects the work while the artist is still alive and fifty years after that. However, since the copyright is governed by the Copyright Act of 1976 such rule only pertains to all works granted copyrights after January 1, 1978. Works before this date only gains copyrights from January 1, 1978 to December 21, 2002.
About Patents
Patents give protection to people's creative ideas. There are utility patents which generally covers most patents applied for. But for machines and other products to be granted a patent, they must be fresh or novel, useful and not obvious. Ornamentation of devices and machines are also given design patents. And when new varieties of plants are produced they can be granted plant patents as well.
Utility and plant patents both get 20 years of protection from the date of application. Design patents, on the other hand, get 14 years protection from the date of issuance of the patent.
So if you don't want the products of your hard work and your creativity to be taken advantaged of, seeking copyright patents is the best option.
George Edmondson is a successful writer specializing on copyright patents. To know more about copyright patents, visit http://www.greatcopyright.com.
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