It’s safe to say that in this day and age most people get their information and various useful content on the internet, and it is not always through legal means. There is no need for beating around the bush – everyone reading this has at some point felt entitled to free content, and lots of it. Some people go so far as to get angry at celebrities, companies, websites or even local artists they like for wanting to get paid for their hard work. If given the slightest chance, most people will simply take what they need, use it freely and some will even comment negatively and give bad reviews once they have gotten bored with and discarded the product they took enjoyment from for free. Not everyone out there is a nice and socially well-adjusted consumer, in fact a lot of the people in the world (and therefore on the internet) are socially awkward, and quite frankly a good part of them are spoiled, selfish and lack both maturity and empathy.
Understanding human nature
In the worst cases you end up with borderline sociopaths or even full-blown psychos, who’ve read just enough to be able to rant for hours about their rights and needs, as they put others down and steal their work. It’s not unusual to have someone just flat out take another person’s work and claim it as their own. A famous example is that of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, who failed to properly protect their work (a short stop motion Christmas cartoon, the precursor to South Park with much of the same characters) and later said in an interview that they missed out on a lot of jobs because other people would show up claiming to be the creators of the cartoon in order to impress an employer and land a good position. This tactic had worked pretty well for a whole bunch of people in other situations throughout history, so if you wish to work on some new interesting material or already have some work of art in your hands, you should consider hiring professionals to help you protect your work before you go off announcing it to the general, and often thieving, public. You can find more info visiting Phoenix IP business website.
You will face an army of thieves, don’t stand alone
Make no mistake, these are modern times we are living in, times when people are getting used to having everything they desire at their fingertips. A few taps on a keyboard and they can have movies and songs on their computer in a matter of minutes or have items and food delivered to their door, all bought and paid for from the comfort of their big, comfy, grease stained chair. These people follow the old Spartan adage: “Give them nothing. Take from them, everything”, and boy oh boy will they try to see that one through. Some other, finer points of Ancient Greek philosophy and wisdom are lost on them, but this quote seems to be the battle cry of internet piracy. You have a cool little prototype of an invention you’ve been working on for a few years? Why, now that it’s finally over you’ll put a video of it in action on your You Tube channel to see people’s reactions, to show the world what you have done and to bask in in its praise of your work. Well, I just hope to God that you don’t show the inner workings in any significant level of detail, because a few weeks later you’ll have fifty people working on their own project. Sure they might even mention your name, but once someone with a bit of funds and some common sense develops a working prototype he can then get a patent on this little contraption and you can argue until you are blue in the face that you thought of it first – as long as he has that piece of paper and you don’t it doesn’t matter.
Doing things the right way
There are several different types of intellectual property, and you will want someone who specializes in your particular area. Copyright deals with artistic creations like writing, music and designs; Patents deal with inventions, which might include mechanical, chemical or software applications; Trademarks deal with things pertaining to brand development, such as names, symbols and images; Trade secrets like certain processes or ingredients can also be protected. Trying to get a registered trademark on your own can be a grueling and often negative experience. There is a reason why these people go to law school for years, there are many little things to take into consideration. And even if you have a patent or trademark, some wise guy will inevitably try to cash in on your success, disregarding the law, in which case you will need a professional at your side to present your case, defend your intellectual property, and make sure that you get paid by those looking to reproduce your work.