IDSA CSU Long Beach Student Chapter
 
On October 16th, we went to Otis for an IDSA event on creative ownership laws, how to patent your ideas, cpyrights, etc.
There were 5 panelists: Melissa Dagodag, Krystina Castella, Mark Plager, Steve Boyer and Eric Rose.
Some things that I wrote down were:
As a young designer, it's best to spend more time on creating many products to have more chances in getting a license with a company.
They talked about getting a licensing proposal vs. a business plan.
In trademark and copyright issues,
1. avoid expensive lawsuits
2. protect your creations from being ripped off
3. create a remedy in case it happens
4. create ownership rights
Register products with US customs office to protect products from overseas from coming in with your same idea.
If you're a contractor, you own your work.
The difference between registering a Copyright with the Copyright office and just writing Copyright on your work is that with a registered one, you can actually go to court and pursue someone.

There is a group called inventorsforum.org that meet and discuss creative copyright laws and such. Check it out if you have any questions about your projects and how to protect them.

Alix