Re: how do I find out if a copyright already exists?

Sandy Lora <sandylora[_at_]pol.net> wrote:
>
> How do I find out if a copyright already exists on a name of a product
> or idea?? What number do I call or who can I talk to?
>
> Also should one get a lawyer involved if he or she wants to get a
> copyright and if so, do you know of any lawyers in the NYC area (and do
> you know approximately how much the fee is per hour?)

You are confusing several areas of intellectual property law here. Protection for names of products is done through trademarks, protection for ideas through patent (to a certain extent) and trade secret law. Copyright protects expression of an idea only-if two people independently wrote "Gone with the Wind" they would each have copyright in their work, but only in their work. And each could register the copyright (which is what you really mean by "find out if a copyright already exists"). To learn more about the difference, you want to check Carl Oppedahl's web site ( http://www.patents.com ).

Stephen J. Hyland
<shyland[_at_]computer-lawyer.com> Received on Wed Jun 24 1998 - 19:31:10 GMT