Idea Theft: Protecting All Sides
June, 19, 2012 9:50 am | Comments On #idea theft, Last Samurai, Movies
With the increase in litigation over so-called “idea theft,” many aspiring writers are understandably concerned about protecting their work. They often ask whether you can “copyright an idea.” The short answer is no. The long answer is that there are ways to protect creative work.
The Copyright Act does not offer protection to “ideas” and “concepts.” While an author’s work is protected from the moment he or she writes it (although it’s a good idea to add a copyright notice – “© 2012 [name]” – before circulating it), that protection extends only to the more detailed expression of the creator’s idea, not to the underlying idea itself.
By way of example, there have been innumerable dramatic presentations of...
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Description
Tom Ferber is a litigation partner at Pryor Cashman LLP. He has represented a variety of clients in the entertainment, publishing and other industries in copyright infringement, idea misappropriation, trademark, trade dress, false advertising, unfair competition, right of publicity, privacy and defamation actions. He also counsels clients in risk evaluation and strategies for minimizing exposure in these areas, and he has lectured at bar association conferences on topics concerning intellectual property litigation in the entertainment industry.
