QUESTION
We are starting a digest-style magazine that will frequently be creating new stories, series, characters, etc. Do we need to copyright or trademark?
Asked on Jan 04th, 2012 on Business Law - Ohio
More details to this question:
So we are starting up a weekly digital magazine that will be dedicated to publishing digest-style comic and short stories. We will have a few weeks or one story/series, and when it ends and we start a totally new one.
Do you need to copyright or trademark all of our newly created content?
So say that our magazine is called Comic Book Digest Magazine, and it features new, alternating comic series every week...
For example, if we have in one issue a story with our character Awesome Man , and in our next issue, we introduce a new series called The Adventures of Terrible-Man (to use random, made up examples to illustrate the point!), do we need to separately copyright or trademark Awesome Man and The Adventures of Terrible-Man? Or would those fall under the "Comic Book Digest Magazine" trademark?
Thank you!
1 ANSWER
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You cannot "trademark" a name -- a trademark is something you have, not something you do. Many people confuse the process of trademark registration with the creation of the mark itself. If your character names mature to the point where they identify the source or origin of products or services, you will have a trademark and may then be able to register your mark. It may be desirable to file intent-to-use applications for these marks.These are issues you should resolve in consultation with counsel.
Your text and other works of authorship will be automatically copyrighted upon creation. It may be appropriate to register your copyright in each issue. Again, these are issues you should resolve in consultation with your attorney.
We practice in this area and would be happy to be helpful.
Answered on Jan 05th, 2012 at 4:15 AM