How do you copyright ideas?

Question

Are there only certain things I can copyright? Is there a minimum of things I can get copyrighted? Can I sell ideas I copy right?

Answer 1

If you have written, photographed, or otherwise documented an idea, you have an author's copyright (it proves ownership of the idea) but this is not secure, so you must file the idea by written document with the Federal Government. You may sell such copyrights to others, as long as you keep up the copyright or if it falls into Public Domain, then anyone can use it. Copyrights include all written materials, books, photographs and recordings so the estate of Elvis Presley or James Mitchner retain the rights to those works....as long as the copyright is kept to date.

Answer 2

It is not possible to protect ideas but rather the representation of that idea.

To protect an original invention OR a significant improvement to an existing product, a patent would be filed. Here's the USPTO's definition: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/index.html#patent

Copyrights can be obtained for things of an artistic nature. This includes, of course, poetry, films, sculptures, music, fiction, etc. But can also include things that may not necessarily seem "artistic" in the general sense of the word. Copyrights can also be obtained for advertising copy, games, software programs and blueprints, to name just a few.

Trademarks can be names of products or services, logos, slogans, packaging and even sounds and smells. In essence, a trademark can be almost anything that is used to identify a particular product or service. Registering a trademark grants the owner exclusive rights to the mark within the specified industry.

Of course, it's necessary to research the mark comprehensively prior to filing to ensure that there is no possibility of infringing upon another party.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 3

A patent keeps your idea for an invention from being stolen. A patent is issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In most cases, the term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States. U.S. patent grants are effective only within the U.S., U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions. A patent is “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention. (Definition from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office)

http://www.libraryweb.org/tutorials/patents.html

Answer 4

Things you CAN copyright are
Literary Works
Visual Arts
Performing Arts
Sound Recordings
Serials/Periodicals
(Copyrights are currently $45)

Things you CANT copyright
.a idea (for the most part)
.a method
.a device
(patents cost usually $2,000)

Once you own a copyright, or a patent, you can transfer the ownership i believe.

Need more details... WHAT TYPE OF IDEA?