Is a copyright a trademark [FAQ]

Last updated : Aug 8, 2022

What is the difference of copyright and trademark?

A trademark is a word, symbol, design, or phrase that denotes a specific product and differentiates it from similar products. Copyrights protect “original works of authorship,” such as writings, art, architecture, and music.

Can something be both copyrighted and trademarked?

Both are legal protections for intellectual property, but not of the same kind. Intellectual property that can be trademarked cannot be copyrighted. Intellectual property that can be copyrighted cannot be trademarked. For example, a company can trademark its name and logo and copyright its videos and books.

Is Mickey Mouse a trademark or copyright?

People can now create their own stories with the original Mickey Mouse character. However, there are still legal hurdles like trademark law. Disney holds Mickey Mouse trademarks for a variety of commercial uses. And while copyright is time-limited, trademarks are not.

Do I trademark or copyright my logo?

To protect your logo, you need a trademark or service mark (trademarks are generally used for products, while service marks are usually applied to services). You should not copyright or patent a logo design.

Is the Apple logo a trademark or copyright?

Apple, the Apple logo, Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, iTunes, and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. iTunes Store is a service marks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

How long does a copyright last?

As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.

How long does a trademark last?

A federal trademark lasts 10 years from the date of registration, with 10-year renewal terms. Between the fifth and sixth year after the registration date, the registrant must file an affidavit to state that the mark is still in use.

Is Winnie-the-Pooh out of copyright?

Disney acquired the rights to Winnie-the-Pooh in 1961, dropping the hyphen and releasing the animation classic 'Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree' in 1966, where Winnie appeared for the first time in his modern form. Each of Disney's Winnie the Pooh works and adaptations are still protected under US copyright.

Is Donald Duck in the public domain?

And if you were wondering, Mickey's leading lady, Minnie, debuted at the same time as Mickey. So she's up for public domain in 2024 too. Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck will be up for public domain soon after Mickey and Minnie. Mickey is certainly an outlier when it comes to copyright and ownership.

Can you renew copyright?

For works copyrighted between January 1, 1964, and Decem- ber 31, 1977, an application for renewal of copyright can be made at any time during the renewed and extended term of 67 years. Renewal copyright may be claimed only by those persons specified in the law.

What can you not trademark?

• Proper names or likenesses without consent from the person.
• Generic terms, phrases, or the like.
• Government symbols or insignia.
• Vulgar or disparaging words or phrases.
• The likeness of a U.S. President, former or current.
• Immoral, deceptive, or scandalous words or symbols.
• Sounds or short motifs.

Can I copyright my name?

No. Names are not protected by copyright law. Some names may be protected under trademark law. Contact the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, TrademarkAssistanceCenter@uspto.gov or see Circular 33 "Copyright Protection Not Available for Names, Titles, or Short Phrases".

Can I trademark my name?

You can trademark your name if it has business or commercial value. Trademarking your name gives you an additional brand and keeps others from using your name. To trademark your name you must meet specific requirements with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Is Nike trademarked or copyrighted?

Nike and Its Trademarks Nike holds several trademarks, including their famous swoosh symbol and the phrase “just do it.” Essentially, Nike has a trademark on its name, slogan, and symbol. If the company had failed to trademark any of these items, they could be used in another company's marketing.

Is Alexa a trademark?

Company must include the following statement in any materials that display the Trademark: “Amazon, Alexa and all related logos are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.”

Can I put a Nike logo on a shirt for personal use?

In fact, copyright and trademark violations can in some cases lead to criminal charges. Selling shirts with copyrighted images isn't impossible, but you should never use someone else's logos on your T-shirts or other clothing without their explicit permission.

What is not protected by copyright?

Not Protected by Copyright: Titles, names, short phrases and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents.

Who owns a copyright?

As a general rule, the initial owner of the copyright is the person who does the creative work. If you wrote the book or took the photograph, you are the copyright owner. Employer may be the copyright owner.

What year is copyright free?

As of 2019, copyright has expired for all works published in the United States before 1924. In other words, if the work was published in the U.S. before January 1, 1924, you are free to use it in the U.S. without permission.

What are the three types of trademarks?

What you'll learn: Arbitrary and Fanciful Trademarks. Suggestive Trademarks. Descriptive Trademarks.

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he folks today we're going to be discussing the differences between copyright and Trademark just a quick disclaimer to say that I am NOT an IP professional if you do require intellectual property advice please do seek out professional help so what is copyright copyright is there to protect your original creative works you can't copyright an idea you can copyright things like literary work dramatic works Musical and artistic work as long as they are in a tangible form what do I mean by a tangible form well things like books film recordings websites software photography paintings or graphic design elements like business cards or brochures having the copyright then gives you the exclusive rights to perform distribute make copies of or even make adaptations of your original creative work here in the UK there is no requirement to register your copyright it just happens automatically as soon as the work is created this may be different in your location so please check with your local Copyright Office or intellectual property office to get the full facts on how copyright is assigned in your country protection on copyright generally lasts for the lifetime of the author Plus 70 years again this may be different in your country so please check once you have created your work and the copyright is assigned you then have permission to use that little copyright symbol the little C inside the circle along with the year that the work was created however there is no requirement to use that little C symbol the copyright still remains with you at all times so let's move on to registered marks there are two types of registered marks and both of these can be used to protect the sale of products or services for a business the first is the trademark which is used to protect goods or products and the second is a service mark which you would use to protect services that you provide generally though people tend to use the town trademark to cover both our trademark and the service mark for the purpose of this video I will be using the term registered mark which covers both examples of things that can be covered by a registered mark would be a company name a slogan a sound a color under logo once you have that registered mark you have the exclusive rights to use that mark with your product or service it allows you to stop other companies businesses or organizations from using a similar mark to promote or sell a similar product or service what you can't do is you can't prevent someone from using a similar mark if they are using it to promote or sell a dissimilar product or service let's look at this example of two locals one for Sun Microsystems and the other for Columbia Sportswear now visually these two logos are very similar especially if they were both in black for example and you just had a quick glance at the logos the reason that both of these similar logos can exist and be registered as marks is that there are two completely different industries Sun Microsystems is in software and computing and Columbia is in sportswear two very different industries now however let's say Sun Microsystems were in the spa for businesses while then we would have an issue because they would both have similar marks selling or trading similar products this can't happen so what would happen here is that the company that registered their mark first would be able to prevent the second company from registering the mark which is similar to theirs and in a similar industry in its simplest form registered marks are there to help the consumer differentiate between brands and the products and services that they sell if when you try to register a new mark the internal Property Office will look at existing marks and if they feel that by registering your mark this may cause confusion for the consumer when they are looking to buy a product or service from someone who is in the same industry as you they will deny you that registration once you have registered your mark though you can use the little R symbol inside the circle next to your logo or your brand name unlike copyright registered marks can last indefinitely but they do have to be renewed every 10 years one thing that you cannot do is you cannot register a mark and sit it on a shelf for use at a later date for a registered mark to be viable it must be in constant use so those are the main differences between copyright under registered mark or as I mentioned earlier most people just use the town trademark I hope this cleared up any confusion you may have had in the past about the two terms and you can move forward safe in the knowledge that you have the correct understanding for both for more brand and design advice why not join hundreds of other brand rockers who have signed up to my rock your brand monthly email newsletter it's absolutely free and the advice that I give in there will help you to strengthen your brand and stand out from your competition head on over to rock your brand or quote at UK and sign up until I see you next time folks stay creative

Thanks for your comment Amy Nulty, have a nice day.
- Elois Knous, Staff Member

hey what's up guys so in this video we're going to be breaking down the difference between copyrights and trademarks if you're not sure what the difference between them are this video is for you perhaps you're wondering if you should trademark or copyright your logo business name product line this video is going to answer the following questions one how are trademarks and copyrights different two what can be trademarked and what can be copyrighted and three how should you approach copyrights and trademarks and what should you think about in terms of project protecting your logo business name and branding now before we delve too deep into this topic let me just say that at the end of this video you will be able to choose what's best for you whether it's a copyright or trademark and i have individual copyright and trademark videos that walk you through them separately in way more detail so go ahead and earmark those videos so you can watch them later after you finish watching this one all right so let's get down to the nitty gritty what is a trademark anything that identifies the source of a good or service think about it in terms of where does it come from who made it where does it originate from for example if i showed you this would you know where this came from most of you guys knew as soon as you saw it what it was and i'm not even showing you the logo for this but you understand where the source of this box this fry box came from or if i showed you these and i said hey where do you guys think i got these from who made this versus if i showed you these and then it's kind of clear who made them where the source is for this and you'll notice i never showed you the logo for either of those goods but i'm sure that you knew where i got them from right that's the power of the trademark so it might be a logo it might be a color it might be a symbol but it gives the brand recognition right i always tell people to flip these words trademark and copyright so let's flip the word trademark it's the mark in the trade there are classes of trades that businesses will fall under so for example you might have a clothing footwear headyear versus services for food and drinks and you register your mark based on the applicable trade which means that a cell phone repair company called in and out is probably not going to infringe on a burger company called in and out two different trades right so now let's talk about what can be trademarked this is the fun stuff so i'm going to give you a small list um you have words logos symbols colors sounds smells slogans for a detailed list of what can be trademarked as well as examples of each be sure to download the trademark verse copyright 101 packet at the link below it's 100 free and it will help you to better understand how to approach protecting your own branded assets so that you can be confident when you go into the marketplace and start making that shmoney now something that's very distinct about trademarks and copyrights is how they're obtained trademarks are filed via an application they are not automatic now why would you trademark these things right you trademark to eliminate confusion in the marketplace because your brand represents a certain company culture set of values a guarantee of quality and cultural currency so to protect other companies from trying to use your branding on their items or to intentionally or accidentally cause confusion about the source of a good or service you create a trademark and that's basically to say look buddy you are trying to reap the benefits of my company's authority in the marketplace to make more sales that's not gonna fly uh say for example this box had a golden cue on it not going to fly right and it's to protect the consumer really trademarks are to make sure that when people purchase they're getting what they want or getting what they thought now if you guys found this video valuable hit the like button so i know to make more content just like this and don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell so you'll be notified when i post more videos all right now let's hop on over to copyright what is a copyright we're going to do the same thing we did with trademark flip the word write to copy reproduce alter use sell copies of perform or display the work or artistic expression this is about work product ownership think who maintains control as the rightful owner of this art trademark is about the source of goods and services and trademarks have to be filed copyrights do not have to be filed because they are automatically given to the artist or the creator of the work all right so let's break that down a little bit more the copyright is to protect the creator what can be copyrighted blogs all right so writers blogs video photos photographers music slogans songs to name a few this is not an exhaustive list if you guys want more of what can and cannot be copyrighted or trademarked be sure to get that download but let's walk you through a hypothetical you have a logo and you partner with an organization and maybe your logo is a lot like the mcdonald's golden arch it's always in gold and red this organization you partner with turns your logo pink for breast cancer awareness without your permission that's a copyright violation potentially and if you want to know the way around this be sure to watch to watch my copyright video in this series

Thanks Chelsey your participation is very much appreciated
- Elois Knous

About the author

Elois Knous

I've studied computational chemistry at American Jewish University in Los Angeles and I am an expert in purchasing. I usually feel crappy. My previous job was animal control worker I held this position for 21 years, I love talking about research and m+�lkky. Huge fan of Sarah Silverman I practice parachuting and collect first editions.