PATENT OR COPYRIGHT?

We updated the copyright at the bottom of my website recently (we were a little behind on this!) and I wondered about copyrights. How do you use them? How do you claim them? So I did a little digging.

Whether it’s an idea, an invention or a company website, individuals and businesses need to safeguard their property from those who might want to claim it as their own. However, deciding whether to file for a patent or register a copyright — and how to go about it — can be challenging.

The first step is to understand the difference between a copyright and a patent. Simply put, a copyright protects original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible format. A patent protects inventions or discoveries.

The U.S. Copyright Office states that copyright protects “literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed.”

With the evolution of digital media, personal or business-related websites that contain written material, photographs or graphics that are original works are eligible for copyright protection. The code and design elements of websites can also be copyrighted by their owners.