Copyright and Intellectual Property

This guide is meant to be an educational resource for those looking at copyright and intellectual property information - This is not intended to be legal advice. If you have questions about your specific situation the librarians can direct you to the proper resources but cannot advise on legal matters. Please seek out an IP lawyer for legal advice. 

The steps to filing a copyright:

1. Create your work 
2.  "Fix" your work & make it tangible 
   1. This can refer to a printed manuscript, a recorded song, a painting or other artwork, or any other stable format that can be reproduced. 
3. Register your work with the US Copyright office 
   1. Go to the US Copyright office website
   2. Create an account
   3. Complete the application
   4. Pay any associated fees
4. Enjoy the benefits of registration!
   1. It is now a matter of public record that you hold the copyright to your work
   2. You now have legal protections for your work
   3. You now have Prima Facie Evidence - meaning that if you file in a timely fashion the courts will automatically assume that the copyright registration is correct unless directly proven otherwise. 

What is the difference between a trademark, patent, copyright, and intellectual property? According to the USPTO:

Copyright: Artistic, literary, or intellectually created works, such as novels, music, movies, software code, photographs, and paintings that are original and exist in a tangible medium, such as paper, canvas, film, or digital format. 

Trademark: any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies  goods or services. It’s how customers recognize a business in the marketplace and distinguish themselves from competitors. 

Patent: Technical inventions, such as chemical compositions like pharmaceutical drugs, mechanical processes like complex machinery, or machine designs that are new, unique, and usable in some type of industry. Please note that this guide will not go into great detail on Patents - you can find more information in our Patent Libguide. 

Intellectual Property: Creations of the mind—creative works or ideas embodied in a form that can be shared or can enable others to recreate, emulate, or manufacture them. There are four ways to protect intellectual property: patents, trademarks, copyrights, and/or trade secrets. 

Source: Trademark, patent, or copyright. United States Patent and Trademark Office - An Agency of the Department of Commerce. (2025, February 3). https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/trademark-patent-copyright

If you have suggestions for how to make this page better, please contact Elizabeth Jerow, Library Director (jerow@msoe.edu).