How to protect your copyright

As a creative business, intellectual property is your most valuable asset. Read our step-by-step guide on how to effectively protect, exploit and manage your IP.

Identify your intellectual property

List any creative ‘assets’ – your intellectual property, from your logo and company name/brand, to your packaging design, products and software.
Check your designs, expressed ideas, concepts and creative works are new and original.

Protect your intellectual property

Before you start negotiations, put in place a simple confidentiality agreement with a client, potential manufacturers or investors.
You can download free sample contracts from Own-it website. A well drafted agreement will specify the type of information to be protected, how long the duty of confidentiality is to last and to whom the information may be disclosed.
Secure web domain names to safeguard your brand.
Agree terms and get everything in writing.
When approaching manufacturers you should put various agreements in place, such as a confidentiality agreement, prototype agreement (where the factory agrees to make a sample to your specifications), heads of agreement and manufacturing agreement.
Catalogue everything that you have.
Keep good records, including your sketches, notes, drafts, diagrams, contracts, letters and e-mail communications. Keep all work in progress and a ‘design’ or working story.
Assert your rights.
Mark the author/publisher or creator’s name on all copies of your work, along with the date and country. © (Name of owner) (Year of creation).
Put registered design rights and other IP renewal dates in your diary.
Don’t forget IP rights or domain name renewals.

Exploit your intellectual property

If managed and exploited correctly, your IP will be a driving force behind the success of your business. To ensure it's fully protected, you need to:

Ensure any designs, trade marks and patents you register or apply for are the same as those you intend to market.
Inform people that you have a registered design or trademark to increase your credibility and make people aware of your rights.
For example, you should put your design rights number on any packaging and if you have a registered trade mark. 
Maximise returns by licensing your rights either as a whole or separately to exploit your IP in different territories or different forms. This way you hold onto your rights whille making money from them. 
Charge an assignment fee if the client wants the rights, and always seek external advice before assignment (such as the size of the fee and appropriateness of this decision).
Licence your IP (either exclusively or non-exclusively).
You can licence your rights exclusively to the licensee only, or non-exclusively to the licensee and anyone else you choose to licence to.
You can licence reproduction or distribution rights, rental or lending rights.
Consider what you are licensing (eg your trademark, copyright, design rights) in what format (exclusively or non-exclusively) and how long for (eg are the terms of the licence for a fixed term, perpetual or terminal) and finally, where in the world you are licensing to. 
Figure out whether you require royalties, licence fees or both. (Royalty payments generally vary between four and 14 percent, dependent on the type of creative work/industry). 
Negotiate fair terms. This is the period where you spend time bargaining to work out a deal.

Your intellectual property is what will set you apart from the competition.

Next comes the contracting part, which involves formulating the details to create a binding agreement.

Make sure you are given equitable remuneration for your work. For example if you produce sound recordings, you should be paid royalties by the MCPS PRS alliance. If you have written a book, you should receive lending royalties as well as royalties from your publisher.

Use a Creative Commons licence if you want to control and share your IP. You can choose to allow reproductions of your work but not for commercial purposes or other methods of use, so some rights are reserved instead of all.

Enforce your intellectual property

Even big organisations can experience problems enforcing their IP. DVD piracy costs the film industry millions, just as illegal music downloading costs the music industry. So how can you enforce your IP effectively?

Monitor what competitors and new entrants to your market are doing. Get news alerts, subscribe to industry news, and keep an eye on the Patent Office site.
Pay attention to new trade marks being advertised. If any infringe yours you are able to contest them once they’ve been advertised.
Send standard cease and desist letters if you find anyone infringing your IP rights. A lawyer can help draw up an effective letter to send out and advise you on the best course of action.