How does album art licensing work?

Licensing is a great way to make some money while retaining some rights to your artwork. There are many ways to structure a licensing agreement for album art. Which route you decide to go can have a profound impact so contacting an attorney is recommended. Here are some options for licensing artwork:

Copyright in Vietnam

One-time use: allows the artwork to be used one time only. Any further use of the work would require a new agreement.

All rights for limited time: allows the band to use the artwork in any capacity they need, but for a specific period of time detailed in the contract. Once that period has passed, all rights revert back to the artist.

All right for a limited purpose: allows the band to use the artwork only on a specific product (for example - an album cover). This contract should be very descriptive regarding the purpose for the artwork. This contract usually enables artists to sell the artwork to other clients (that aren’t in competition with the band).

All rights for limited time and purpose: allows the band to use the artwork on a specific product but for a limited time. During that time, the band may only use the artwork on the specified product (for example an album cover). Once the agreed upon time has expired, all rights revert back to the artist.

Source: Quora

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How do most companies protect their software through intellectual property law?

Source code could potentially be a trade secret for a software company, but in order to qualify for protection it would have to be actively guarded and not disclosed to anyone outside of the company. Trade secret protection is really for something like a secret recipe that has great value to the company solely because it is a secret known only by the company.

 Software Compliance Law Firm in Vietnam

A copyright is thebetter form of protection for software. As far as understanding what has been copyrighted — copyrights exist as soon as the work is fixed in a medium. So, any work (here, software) that you see has an implicit copyright on the original aspects of the work. The question of what parts of the work are original and thus protected by the copyright is a legal question that should be answered by an Intellectual Property Lawyers.

For that reason most companies will have copyrights on their software to some extent. Patents on software are more difficult to obtain than copyrights for a couple of reasons. First, the patent application process requires a strict review to ensure that the application meets the requirements — as opposed to a copyright which exists as soon as an author puts pen to paper. Second, patents are generally reserved for tangible inventions. It is possible that software can qualify for a patent, but it is much harder to show.

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What works are protected by copyright registration?

What is copyright?  

Copyright is the right of authors to control the use of their work for a limited period of time. In order to qualify for copyright protection, a work must be “fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” A work must be the result of some creative effort on the part of its author in order to qualify for copyright protection. For works first published after March 1, 1989, an author need not include a copyright notice to gain protection under the law. However, although a notice is not required, it’s helpful if you obtain one. When a work contains a valid copyright notice, an infringer cannot claim in court that s/he wasn’t aware the work was copyrighted. Thus, an author has a greater chance to win a copyright infringement case and spend much less litigating in the process if s/he has a copyright notice.

Copyright in Vietnam 

If a work is created on or after January 1, 1978 then it is protected for a term of the life of the author plus 70 years. However, if the work is a work for hire or is published under a pseudonym, the copyright lasts between 95 and 120 years, depending on the date the work is published.

Protected Works

A work becomes copyrighted when it is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. There are categories of work that fall under this definition:

Literary works

Musical works, including the accompanying words

Dramatic works, including the accompanying music

Pantomimes and choreographic works

Pictorial, graphic and sculptural works

Motion pictures and other audiovisual works

Sound recordings

Computer software

Architectural works

Not copyrightable:

Works not fixed in a tangible form of expression (ex. something said but not recorded)

Ideas, methods, principles and systems

Titles, names, and slogans

Works found in the public domain

Works that are strictly informational and contain no authorship

If you're looking for an affordable copyright attorney, check out ANTlawyers.vn. ANTlawyers.vn was established to meet these needs by providing fast, effective and economical solutions. Hope that clears things up a bit. Feel free to message me directly to chat further about any other IP questions that you face.

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Can I copyright something on behalf of another person?

I’m afraid the Copyright Act beat you to it. Copyright arises automatically under the law at the time a copyrightable work is created and “fixed in a tangible medium of expression” (e.g., drawn on paper, saved in digital format, recorded on tape, etc.). What that means is that your cousin’s logo design was protected by copyright law as soon as she created it, and she has owned the copyright since that time.

What you may be thinking of is the act of registering a copyright with the Copyright Office. Registering a copyright doesn't create the copyright itself — it simply records a person’s claim to a particular copyright with the federal government. (It also provides some very valuable benefits in the event someone infringes the copyright, which is the primary reason most people and businesses do it.) Unfortunately though, you aren't permitted to register someone else's copyright unless you’re acting as the copyright owner’s authorized agent. So, at least assuming you want the gift to be a surprise, the Copyright Office won't permit you to register the copyright in the logo since you don't have your cousin’s authorization. But you certainly can help your cousin do it herself or even ask her for authorization to be her agent for the purpose of registering the copyright.

                                                                                                                                                               

Please click here to learn more about ANT Lawyers IP Practice or contact our IP lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 32 23 27 71

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Copyright and related Right

Copyright/ related Rights Registration

Copyright is stipulated in particularly in Civil Code, Law on Intellectual Property 2005, amended and supplemented in 2009 and  Decree No. 100/2006/ND-CP: Detailing And Guiding The Implementation Of A Number Of Articles Of The Civil Code And The Intellectual Property Law Regarding The Copyright And Related Rights

Copyright means rights of an organization or individual to works which such organization or individual created or owns. Copyright shall arise automatically at the moment a work is created and fixed in a certain material form; irrespective of its content, quality, form, mode and language and irrespective of whether or not such work has been published or registered

As stipulations of Law on Intellectual Property in 2005, amended and supplemented in 2009, Copyright in works shall comprise moral rights and economic rights. Moral rights (except publication rights) shall be protected all whole life of authors and from 50 to 75 years since the author or the final co-author dies.

Copyright-related rightsor related rights means rights of organizations and individuals to performances, phonograms, video recordings, broadcasts and encrypted program-carrying satellite signals. The rights of performers shall be protected for fifty (50) years, which starts from the year following the year in which the performance is turn into a fixed form. The rights of producers of audio and video recordings shall be protected for fifty (50) years which starts from the year following the year of publication, or fifty (50) years which starts from the year following the year in which any unpublished audio and video recording is turned into a fixed form. The rights of broadcasting organizations shall be protected for fifty (50) years which starts from the year following the year in which a broadcast is made.

Like the Trademark registration, Copyright registration shall be the important legal bases to resist actions of appropriating copyright, impersonating authors, counterfeiting, infringing on copyright which lead to damage on reputation of authors.

ANT Lawyers supplies service on copyright/ related right consultant as follows:

·         Advise in grounds for the generation and establishment of Copyrights; basic limitation of Copyrights/ related rights;

·         Consult and implement procedures relating to copyright/ related rights registration;

·         Consult, represent Clients negotiating  and drafting using agreement, assignment agreement and other contracts relating to  copyright/ related rights registration;

·         Complaint decision relating to issuing copyright/ related rights certificate;

·         Consult, collaborate with competent authorities in solving copyright/ related rights infringement.

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