What Is the Difference between Copyright and Trademark?

Copyrights and trademarks are two legal devices that are meant to protect ideas and items from misuse. Violations of these legal devices open up cause for litigation. The violation is termed infringement.

Intellectual ideas and creative works are protected by the use of a copyright, whereas trademarks protect words, phrases and symbols or logos.

Definition of Copyright

To understand the differences between the two devices, here are some facts about copyrights and what they are designed to protect:

• Creative pieces of work, such as poetry, music, literature and drama, whether they are published or unpublished, are protected from use by the copyright of the item in question.
• A copyright grants the owner all the rights to reproduce the work in any available medium. This awards protection to the exact expression of the work but doesn’t protect the subject matter from others writing about it.
• The Copyright Act of 1976 specifically gives the author the rights to reproduce the contents of his work in any manner.
• The author also has the right to prepare derivative works from the original work.
• Authors are further permitted to make copies of the work or phonographs and distribute them widely.
• Only the author is allowed to present public performances or public displays of the works.
• The copyright for any creative work is to be registered with the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.

Examples of copyright infringement include:

• Bootleg copies of books, CD’s or movies. There are downloadable versions of most newly released movies and music CD’s online that violate these copyright laws.
• Software isn’t immune from this infringement either; it too is illegally copied and distributed. In fact, there are entire communities of power users, hackers and programmers geared on cracking software programs for free distribution and use.

Definition of Trademark

Trademarks are different from copyrights in that they are meant to protect symbols and names used in the marketing and selling of goods.

• A trademark is mainly a symbol that distinguishes the source of an item--that is the manufacturer of a good-- from goods produced by other manufacturers.
• Trademarks are meant to be a type of identity mark. The classic Nike swoosh is a good example. While others may not use the same mark on their products, they can use their own version of an identifying mark.
• Some marks that have been used successfully in advertizing campaigns include Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Xerox.
• Some trademarks have become synonymous with an action. For example Xerox is a trademark but also the word used in conversation to describe a photocopy. When someone wants a cold drink, they often request a coke. Therefore trademark word is oftentimes used as a generic term for something.
• Trademark infringement occurs when someone uses the trademark on their own product to confuse the purchaser into believing that the product is one that is produced by the company that owns the trademark. These products are called knock-offs.
• Other types of infringement can occur when the name of the product is slightly altered and applied to a non-genuine product. One example of this type of infringement is a label on a bottle of perfume selling a knock-off of Chanel No. 5 as Chanell No. 5 or Channel No.5.
• Trademarks are registered with the US Patent and Trade Office.
• There are filing fees associated with registering a trade name or mark and copyright.
• The fees associated with a trademark are, in general, greater than those for registering a copyright.
• The granting of a trademark usually will take longer than a copyright because the review process of other conflicting marks is longer. The review will include other marks that may confuse the consumer into thinking a product comes from a well-known manufacturer.
• The best protection for your work and products is to takeout both a trademark and to copyright the material. In this way, no one will be able to infringe on your creative work nor will they be able to represent other items as also being produced by you.

Copyrights and trademarks are available to protect the reputation of both a person’s work and their public name.