What do you have to get trademarked or Copywritten?

Question

I wanna be a cartoonist, I got these great characters but before I show anyone I wanna get them copywritten. Who do I do it, Do I have to just trademark the name of the show or do I have too copwrite every single character?

Answer 1

i assume you're speaking of US copywrite/trademark laws?

you would need to copywrite it, not trademark.

trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.

whereas a copyright protects an original artistic or literary work, which is what you're looking for.

technically, it's already copywritten, if you've already created it, but if you fear it might be "stolen" you probably want to register it with the US gov.

to do that, go http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#cr

you need to fill out an application, pay them 45$, "a deposit requirement" which the website doesn't explain, i'd call them @ [phone], to make certain & mail it all out to them.

you should also find out if you need to fill out application Form SE : for serial works http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formsei.pdf
or Form VA: for works of visual arts http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formvai.pdf, because i'm not certain where a cartoon/comic falls.

good luck.

~~~ morgannia

Answer 2

You've got a couple of different issues here, so let's tackle them one at a time.

Explanatory note: The characters can be a copyright & trademark issue. To protect the designs themselves, you'd copyright them. To protect the designs as they are applied to different products/services, would be a trademark. For example, the design of Mickey Mouse would be a copyright whereas the design of Mickey Mouse as it's used for clothing, amusement parks, etc. are trademarks.

TRADEMARKS - characters & name

To register a trademark, that's done either through your Secretary of State for a State trademark or the US Patent & Trademark Office for a Federal trademark.

If you are only conducting business in one state, then a State trademark is most appropriate. If you conduct (OR are planning to conduct) business in at least 2 states OR between the US & any other country, you can file for a Federal trademark.

Prior to investing your time, money & effort into a name, it is strongly advised that comprehensive research be conducted to ensure that the name you're interested in is truly available.

This entails searching the pending & registered Federal and State trademark files as well as the US National Common-Law files. Then, if clear, you can decide if you would like to file for a Federal or a State trademark.

COPYRIGHTS - characters, scripts, comics, etc.

You can do this at the US Copyright Office – see the last 3 links in the source box. The application is fairly simple & the cost is $45 per application.

Despite what others state, a "poor man's" copyright is NOT the same as registering it. Here's what the US Copyright Office has to say:

"The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a 'poor man’s copyright.' There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration."

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

Answer 3

Just by creating it, it's automatically copywritten. To get a trademark you have to file an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Answer 4

if it's just a nickname, you should be fine. a lot of war/political novels use trademarked names in the titles of special operations or swat teams.

Answer 5

When you copyright something, you send an example of what you have done, which is one reason you renew copyrigth every year