Copyright Law Attorneys Serving Businesses Nationwide & Internationally
Copyright Law: Protect Your Creations
How can we help you? Please feel free to email our Vermont firm with questions or to set up a free consultation. Our practice serves the entire United States.
Do You Need to Register a Copyright in the U.S. Copyright Office?
Registration in the U.S. Copyright Office is essential for both. We can register your copyrights for you or guide you through the process. Foreign copyright holders may want to register their copyrights in the United States (Failure to register precludes an award of statutory damages).
Have you received a cease-and-desist letter or been sued for copyright infringement? Or do you want to send a cease-and-desist letter or sue someone for copyright infringement?
We have ample experience in defending and prosecuting cases of copyright infringement. Pre-litigation services involve gathering, preparing, and analyzing evidence of infringement or lack thereof, as well as pre-litigation settlement negotiations.
Do you need advice about negotiating and drafting a license, assignment, or any other agreement regarding copyrights? Do you need a “work made for hire” or “work product” agreement for your employees or independent contractors?
We negotiate and prepare copyright assignments, copyright licensing agreements, and other transactional documents related to copyright. We draft agreements in plain language so that non-lawyers can understand them.
Whether you're dealing with copyright infringement or a licensing issue, we're ready to assist you.
Are You Seeking Advice About Your Rights Under Copyright Laws in The United States And/or Internationally?
We advise our clients in the lacunae of copyright law, both domestic and internationally. Copyright is a highly complex area due primarily to the fact that the law evolved over many years – and especially in the last 30 – through a hodge-podge of amendments, many of them politically driven, and court decisions. We are frequently asked by clients whether a given work is in the “public domain,” and therefore free to copy, commercialize, or alter without first obtaining permission from the author or artist. The answer is frequently not so simple, as can be seen from this chart maintained by the Cornell University Library.
We also counsel our clients regarding “fair use,” a principle enshrined in the United States Copyright Act to protect certain activities such as parody, news reporting and “transformational” uses in the arts, but which in fact has no bright lines or even consistent application. For example, a legal decision in one area of the arts will not necessarily carry over to another area. Recent case law regarding fine art has permitted substantial “appropriations” of copyrighted material to create new works. However, the same degree of taking in music often results in a finding of copyright infringement. This area of the law is continually changing.
Are you a foreign copyright owner who needs advice about U.S. Copyright law? We can advise you how best to protect your creations in the United States.
Schedule Your Consultation Today
Arrange a meeting with us and get the sound counsel that you need to protect your creations in the United States or abroad, defend against adverse legal action, or address other significant copyright concerns. Complete our online form or reach Gordon E. R. Troy, PC in West Windsor, Vermont. We proudly serve clients all over the United States including New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco, California, as well as clients all over the world.