GollyGoose Blog Room

Let’s get straight to the point. If you’ve written, composed, sculpted, crafted or painted an original work then, the copyright’s already yours under the laws of many civilized nations.

However, Dear Readers, please note that the team here at GollyGoose is not a legal authority on copyright or Intellectual Property law - we hire our own counsel whenever that’s necessary. So, whether you are buying or selling via the GollyGoose platform, it’s very important that you also do your own copywriting research before bidding for or offering an item listed on the site.

Obviously we encourage everyone to follow the law of the land and only buy or sell legitimate content. (For products listed on Gollygoose.com this means the laws of the State of California; see our terms and conditions for details).

We understand that beginners often find the whole idea of copyright to be very confusing. However, you can learn a lot in an hour or two by doing some online research.

And to help speed things up, here are two highly recommended sites that include lots of understandable information on copyright registration and protection.

Note that we provide these links as educational information only and GollyGoose.com cannot be responsible for your use of them.

Site #1: United States Copyright Office

OK, let’s start off with the United States Copyright Office. Their website is http://www.copyright.gov/ where you’ll find a ton of free information on what copyright actually is and how to register yours for a variety of products types.

Check out the FAQ and learn more about what types of works are protected, who can claim copyright and how to secure a copyright. An important point is that your copyright is secured from the moment the work is created (but not necessarily published).

You don’t have to register with the US Copyright Office (or your equivalent body for works created outside the US) to secure the copyright but it’s highly advantageous to do so if you want to defend your copyright from infringement through the legal system. Bear that in mind as you check out the services from organizations offering (for a fee) to register your copyright with the US Copyright Office or foreign equivalents.

Bottom line: You can register the copyright yourself if you fill in the forms, send the obligatory copies and pay the fee. Or you can pay a 3rd party to do all this for you.

For works published in the US it probably makes most sense to register your copyright with the US Copyright Office. Works created and published elsewhere should consider using the relevant copyrighting registration service in that country.

Another useful resource linked to from the US Copyright office website is this flash animation titled “Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright”. You can find it at the Library of Congress website: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/copyrightmystery/
Although written for teachers and students, anyone new to copyright law can benefit from watching it.

Site #2: The United Kingdom’s Intellectual Property Office

Right, let’s zip across the ‘Pond’ and check out the United Kingdom’s copyrighting website: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/

Where we find, in true British style, that they’ve set up an “Intellectual Property Office” website.

This is actually very educational as it allows us to point out that Intellectual Property (IP) rights cover more than just copyright. The three others discussed on that website are Designs, Patents and Trademarks. Look out for some future blog posts from us on these too.