Before you read this realize that I am not a lawyer - just someone who has
worked with them...

We develop software and here is how we have protected our work.

1.) Copyrighted the name of the software as well as any "lingo" that we
developed (this is not cheap if you really want to protect your
implementation). Note that we needed to be careful only to attempt to
copyright truly unique words, expressions, and acronyms.

2.) Copyrighted the first 1/3 and last 1/3 of the code. This theoretically
protects the actual code we have written from being stolen and used by
someone else. Note that this does not protect someone reading our code,
understanding what it does, and then implementing it a different way but
achieving the same results.

3.) Trademarked any and all logos.

4.) Applied for patents unique designs that we wanted to protect. This is
by far the longest and most expensive of the processes but the only way to
protect R&D investments.

If you want to do this right, hire a lawyer that specializes in this type of
thing. Unfortunately that is prohibitively expensive unless you are really
trying to protect an investment. It cost us approximately $2000 to protect
a piece of software.

Finally, for what it is worth, our lawyer said something that impressed upon
me. It was: "You cannot protect an idea but you can protect the expression
of that idea"

How all of this pertains to woodworking plans, I am not sure. My suggestion
would be to contact a small law firm that specializes in copyright/trademark
law and ask them. You can usually get a little free advice when you talk to
these guys, especially if they are small.

--
______________________
WoodJunkie
"Thomas Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I know there have been a lot of requests for sites offering free
designs, and as much as I like to find free designs and use them, I'm
interested in learning how to protect designs/products. I wouldn't mind
offering plans to be used on a personal basis, but would hate to see an
original idea mass produced. Does anyone know what's involved in
protecting designs or products? I read a little about copyrights and I'm
not sure that copyright is applicable. Architectural works are covered,
but is a design of a piece of furniture, for example, an architectural
work? Under the not protected list on from
www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wwp is this inclusion :

"Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles,
discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description,
explanation, or illustration"

Does anyone know?

Thomas Mitchell asks:

I know there have been a lot of requests for sites offering free
designs, and as much as I like to find free designs and use them, I'm
interested in learning how to protect designs/products. I wouldn't mind
offering plans to be used on a personal basis, but would hate to see an
original idea mass produced. Does anyone know what's involved in
protecting designs or products? I read a little about copyrights and I'm
not sure that copyright is applicable. Architectural works are covered,
but is a design of a piece of furniture, for example, an architectural
work? Under the not protected list on from
www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wwp is this inclusion :

"Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles,
discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description,
explanation, or illustration"


http://www.loc.gov/copyright/faq.html#q11

and

http://www.alankorn.com/articles/reg_copyright.html

Those might help. AFAIK, plans are copyrightable. Lord knows, the people I know
in the publishing business have gotten almighty upset when someone re-publishes
a plan without attribution or permission.

Charlie Self

"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this
century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this
century."
Dan Quayle

In article ,
WoodJunkie wrote:
Before you read this realize that I am not a lawyer - just someone who has
worked with them...

We develop software and here is how we have protected our work.

1.) Copyrighted the name of the software as well as any "lingo" that we
developed (this is not cheap if you really want to protect your
implementation). Note that we needed to be careful only to attempt to
copyright truly unique words, expressions, and acronyms.

*BOGOSITY* you -cannot- copyright individual words, phrases, product
names, or acronyms.

"Trademark", maybe. *NOT* copyright.


2.) Copyrighted the first 1/3 and last 1/3 of the code. This theoretically
protects the actual code we have written from being stolen and used by
someone else. Note that this does not protect someone reading our code,
understanding what it does, and then implementing it a different way but
achieving the same results.

*BOGOSITY* the -entire- work is copyrighted *automatically* when it is first
written down.


3.) Trademarked any and all logos.

4.) Applied for patents unique designs that we wanted to protect. This is
by far the longest and most expensive of the processes but the only way to
protect R&D investments.

If you want to do this right, hire a lawyer that specializes in this type of
thing. Unfortunately that is prohibitively expensive unless you are really
trying to protect an investment. It cost us approximately $2000 to protect
a piece of software.

Finally, for what it is worth, our lawyer said something that impressed upon
me. It was: "You cannot protect an idea but you can protect the expression
of that idea"

That is what copyright and/or trademark does, yes.

*PATENT*, on the other hand, protects the _idea_ itself.


How all of this pertains to woodworking plans, I am not sure. My suggestion
would be to contact a small law firm that specializes in copyright/trademark
law and ask them. You can usually get a little free advice when you talk to
these guys, especially if they are small.


plans and drawings _are_ protected by copyright.

Building something from plans is a 'derivative work' of the plans, and requires
permission of the copyright owner.


Note: things get -messy-, when the plans are _created_ from an existing object.
Then the plans are a derivative work of the object, and you need the copyright
owner of _that_ object to give you permission to reproduce your derivative
work (the plans). Before somebody can make something from _those_ plans,
they have to have _your_ permission (as the copyright owner of the derivative
work that is the plans), *and* that of the copyright owner of the object from
which the plans were derived.

Now, if the object you derived your plans from was *itself* built from plans,
You've got the permission of the copyright owner of those plans, too. As
does anybody who builds from your plans.

Then there's the question of where _those_ plans came from. grin


--
______________________
WoodJunkie
"Thomas Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I know there have been a lot of requests for sites offering free
designs, and as much as I like to find free designs and use them, I'm
interested in learning how to protect designs/products. I wouldn't mind
offering plans to be used on a personal basis, but would hate to see an
original idea mass produced.

Your plans ARE protected by copyright. Whether or not you expressly state it.

Somebody building _from_those_plans_ is creating a 'derivative work'. At a
minimum, "offering derivative works for sale" requires the permission of
the copyright owner from which those works were derived. Whether a _single_
such derivative work, for _personal_ use only, would require permission is
rather murky. If you do create that derivative for your own use, if you
ever sell it, or even give it away, _at_that_point_ you've *definitely*
crossed the line of copyright infringement.

This is something that the woodworking magazines, and other commercial
plans sources face _all_the_time_. Usual procedure is to sell a copy
of the (copyrighted) plans, _with_ a 'license' to reproduce a small number
objects _derived_from_ those plans. Maybe 2 objects, maybe 5 -- one magazine
(I think it is) licenses "up to 25".

Does anyone know what's involved in
protecting designs or products? I read a little about copyrights and I'm
not sure that copyright is applicable. Architectural works are covered,
but is a design of a piece of furniture, for example, an architectural
work?


"Conventional" copyright *does* apply to the plans, drawings ,parts-lists, etc.
The 'idea', for which those plans are an 'expression', is not protected by
conventional copyright.

There is a special class "design copyright" for protecting unique designs.
See an 'Intellectual Property Law" specialist, to determine if this is
appropriate for what you are considering doing.

This is a relatively _new_ area of law, it'd be worth consulting *several*
specialists, to make sure their "opinions" agree.

Figuring out _what parts_ (if any) of a design are 'protectable' is arcane
art, in and of itself. "Unique elements" -- _probably_. "Elements commonly
used in other, similar, objects" -- almost certainly _not_. The overall 'look'
and/or 'style' -- well, *maybe*, *if* you can identify what makes that 'look'
_unique_.

We develop software and here is how we have protected our work.

1.) Copyrighted the name of the software as well as any "lingo" that we
developed (this is not cheap if you really want to protect your
implementation). Note that we needed to be careful only to attempt to
copyright truly unique words, expressions, and acronyms.

*BOGOSITY* you -cannot- copyright individual words, phrases, product
names, or acronyms.

"Trademark", maybe. *NOT* copyright.


Thanks for correcting this. I twisted the two around.


2.) Copyrighted the first 1/3 and last 1/3 of the code. This
theoretically
protects the actual code we have written from being stolen and used by
someone else. Note that this does not protect someone reading our code,
understanding what it does, and then implementing it a different way but
achieving the same results.

*BOGOSITY* the -entire- work is copyrighted *automatically* when it is
first
written down.


Technically yes. Practically, not so sure. The hope of enforcement
required that we submit the first and last third of all source code with the
copyright application.


3.) Trademarked any and all logos.

4.) Applied for patents unique designs that we wanted to protect. This
is
by far the longest and most expensive of the processes but the only way
to
protect R&D investments.

If you want to do this right, hire a lawyer that specializes in this type
of
thing. Unfortunately that is prohibitively expensive unless you are
really
trying to protect an investment. It cost us approximately $2000 to
protect
a piece of software.

Finally, for what it is worth, our lawyer said something that impressed
upon
me. It was: "You cannot protect an idea but you can protect the
expression
of that idea"

That is what copyright and/or trademark does, yes.

*PATENT*, on the other hand, protects the _idea_ itself.


How all of this pertains to woodworking plans, I am not sure. My
suggestion
would be to contact a small law firm that specializes in
copyright/trademark
law and ask them. You can usually get a little free advice when you talk
to
these guys, especially if they are small.


plans and drawings _are_ protected by copyright.

Building something from plans is a 'derivative work' of the plans, and
requires
permission of the copyright owner.


Note: things get -messy-, when the plans are _created_ from an existing
object.
Then the plans are a derivative work of the object, and you need the
copyright
owner of _that_ object to give you permission to reproduce your
derivative
work (the plans). Before somebody can make something from _those_
plans,
they have to have _your_ permission (as the copyright owner of the
derivative
work that is the plans), *and* that of the copyright owner of the object
from
which the plans were derived.

Now, if the object you derived your plans from was *itself* built from
plans,
You've got the permission of the copyright owner of those plans, too.
As
does anybody who builds from your plans.

Then there's the question of where _those_ plans came from. grin


--
______________________
WoodJunkie
"Thomas Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I know there have been a lot of requests for sites offering free
designs, and as much as I like to find free designs and use them, I'm
interested in learning how to protect designs/products. I wouldn't mind
offering plans to be used on a personal basis, but would hate to see an
original idea mass produced.

Your plans ARE protected by copyright. Whether or not you expressly state
it.

Somebody building _from_those_plans_ is creating a 'derivative work'. At
a
minimum, "offering derivative works for sale" requires the permission of
the copyright owner from which those works were derived. Whether a
_single_
such derivative work, for _personal_ use only, would require permission is
rather murky. If you do create that derivative for your own use, if you
ever sell it, or even give it away, _at_that_point_ you've *definitely*
crossed the line of copyright infringement.

This is something that the woodworking magazines, and other commercial
plans sources face _all_the_time_. Usual procedure is to sell a copy
of the (copyrighted) plans, _with_ a 'license' to reproduce a small number
objects _derived_from_ those plans. Maybe 2 objects, maybe 5 -- one
magazine
(I think it is) licenses "up to 25".

Does anyone know what's involved in
protecting designs or products? I read a little about copyrights and
I'm
not sure that copyright is applicable. Architectural works are covered,
but is a design of a piece of furniture, for example, an architectural
work?


"Conventional" copyright *does* apply to the plans, drawings ,parts-lists,
etc.
The 'idea', for which those plans are an 'expression', is not protected by
conventional copyright.

There is a special class "design copyright" for protecting unique designs.
See an 'Intellectual Property Law" specialist, to determine if this is
appropriate for what you are considering doing.

This is a relatively _new_ area of law, it'd be worth consulting *several*
specialists, to make sure their "opinions" agree.

Figuring out _what parts_ (if any) of a design are 'protectable' is arcane
art, in and of itself. "Unique elements" -- _probably_. "Elements
commonly
used in other, similar, objects" -- almost certainly _not_. The overall
'look'
and/or 'style' -- well, *maybe*, *if* you can identify what makes that
'look'
_unique_.