You may have heard of the “fair use defense”, where certain unauthorized uses of copywritten material may be allowed by law. Here at PBPA, we often get questions from clients about the “fair use defense.” What really is the fair use defense? Does it give nonprofits a free pass to use copywritten material? In this episode of the PBPA Podcast, Jennifer Sandlin with Eversheds Sutherland will answer those questions and more as we review the fair use defense for nonprofits.
Intellectual Property
What’s in a Name? Legal Considerations of Nonprofit Branding
Whether a nonprofit’s name is based on its mission, location, founder, or something completely unrelated, it is the keystone of the organization’s branding. If you're deciding on a name for your organization or a new program, or even if you are growing your brand, take a listen to this episode of the PBPA Podcast. In this episode, Creighton Frommer, Chief Counsel at RELX, guides us through legal considerations in selecting and protecting a nonprofit’s name.
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Trademarks: Nonprofit Brand Protection Options
Your organization has multiple options in how to protect its name through trademark. Depending on your geography, your budget, and the types of services your provide, your organization has choices. This article will outline the three different trademark protection options available to nonprofits and the pros and cons of each option.
Webcast: Using Intellectual Property with Social Media
Social media makes a great way to communicate with nonprofit clients, stakeholders, donors, and the general public. Almost all posts use your organization’s or another’s intellectual property to spread the word. Intellectual property includes copyrighted content (like images, videos, and text), brands and logos and individuals’ rights of publicity. During this presentation, we’ll talk through the best practices and common pitfalls of using intellectual property with social media, including:
- Properly identifying your organization’s content
- How to best use others’ content without infringing it, including ‘what is fair use?’
- What is an “individual’s right to publicity” and how to avoid violating it
- Why it’s important to train staff and volunteers who post on behalf of your organization about these best practices
Beware of Trademark Scams
Applying for a trademark is a crucial step in solidifying and protecting your organization’s hard work and reputation. However, when applying for a trademark, your address, email address, and other details of your registration are added to the public domain. This gives unethical companies the opportunity to flood your mailbox and your email with deceiving notices in an attempt to get you to pay for private trademark renewal services you do not need. Please be aware that you are not required to pay for services through these private companies to renew a trademark registration.
Beware of Trademark Scams
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Protecting Confidential Information – Five Steps to Consider
Nonprofits, like all organizations, collect and create information that is valuable to the organization and important to maintain in confidence. Examples include client information (including personal and medical information), donor information, personal information (about board members, volunteers, or employees), as well as other business and financial information that needs to be protected. This article outlines five steps organizations should consider in protecting their confidential information.
Protecting Confidential Information
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Webcast: Protecting Confidential Information for Nonprofits
This webinar provides an overview of how to identify and protect confidential business information that is significant to your nonprofit. The presenters will explain the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, clarify the legal differences between confidential information and trade secrets, discuss how nonprofits can use confidential information and trade secrets while continuing to protect them, and provide best practices to protect confidential information and trade secrets when partnering with another organization.
The webinar will review:
- The differences between confidential information and trade secrets;
- How to identify whether your organization has any trade secrets;
- The Defend Trade Secrets Act and its impact on how your organization protects its proprietary information; and
- Best practices for non-disclosures agreements and how to best protect your organization’s proprietary information.
Speaker: William Cloherty, Elavon and Alex Meier, Seyfarth
Please click here to view the webcast.
Protecting Confidential Information
[pdf-embedder url="https://pbpatl.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DTSA-Confidentiality-PPT-FINAL.pdf" title="Slides: Protecting Confidential Information for Nonprofits"]
How to File a Copyright Registration
Nonprofits create many things, from curriculum to videos to websites to music. After expending their limited resources to create things (or to pay others to create them), nonprofits should certainly consider how to protect their rights in those things. Copyright protects works of authorship from unauthorized copying and distribution. An original work of authorship becomes protected by copyright as soon as it is recorded in some physical medium, such as on paper, canvas or computer hard drive. Nonprofits should consider taking the additional step of registering their most important works with the US Copyright Office in order to preserve their rights in the event that someone copies or distributes their works without permission.
Guide to Copyright Registration
[pdf-embedder url="https://pbpatl.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Guide-to-e-Filing-Copyright-Registrations.pdf" title="Guide to e-filing Copyright Registrations"]
Webcast: Avoiding the Legal Pitfalls of Using Photos
Photographs promote a nonprofit’s operations unlike anything else. They can be used on websites, in brochures and newsletters, and on social media to demonstrate what an organization is doing in its community. Confusion, however, abounds on when an organization can use photographs legally and under what circumstances.
During this 30-minute webinar, our speaker helps nonprofits understand:
• Basic considerations in using a photograph of people;
• An organization’s rights in using a photograph; and
• How to avoid legal problems when using photographs.
Presenter: John Bush, Bryan Cave
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Webcast: What You Need to Know About Licensing Your Materials
Nonprofits spend many hours working on fundraising brochures, training materials, photographs, and sometimes even software. Each work product is protectable under copyright law and, for some valuable property, is an asset that the nonprofit can license either to further its cause or as a potential revenue stream.
During this 30 minute webcast, our speaker helps nonprofits understand:
• Basic principles of copyright law
• Considerations in licensing a nonprofit's materials for use by others
• Enforcing a copyright
• Registering a copyright
Presenter: John Bush, Bryan Cave
Click Here to View Slides
Webcast: Practical Tips on How to Conceive and Grow Your Brand
Whether your organization has just been born or has been serving the community for decades, you may not realize that your organization’s trademarks and branding are valuable symbols for trust and quality to those you serve. The reputation of your organization is inseparable from its brand. As a result, it is important that these intellectual property assets are selected with care. It is also critical to protect your trademarks from infringement or dilution by others, which can be common in the nonprofit space.
This webcast will appeal to those both new and experienced in the area of nonprofit brand management. With the opportunity for interactive Q&A, we will generally discuss:
• How to select strong, non-descriptive trademarks.
• How to police your brand and handle infringement disputes.
• Tips on maintaining an effective social media presence.
• Making “creative review” part of your marketing culture.
Presenter: Anuj Desai, Arnall Golden Gregory
Please note that 33 minutes into the webcast we experienced some technical difficulties.
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Copyright Law and Nonprofits: The Do’s and Don’ts of Using Materials from the Internet
Volunteers and employees of nonprofits often pull images and other content from the Internet in preparing newsletters, social media posts and other materials. This can easily expose the organization to liability for copyright infringement. This article provides a basic understanding of copyright law as well as a list do’s and don’ts for using materials from the Internet so that you can help your organization avoid copyright infringement actions.
Copyright Law and Nonprofit
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Legal Issues for New Nonprofits Webinar 6: Trademarks and Copyrights for Nonprofits
This is part six of an eight part webinar series that provides general legal information about operating a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation. Your nonprofit may have valuable “intellectual property” rights in your organization’s name, logo, program materials and other assets. This webinar will give an overview of intellectual property considerations, and how to best protect these assets.
Presenters: Rick McMurtry, Esq. and Carly Regan, Turner Broadcasting System
Click here to view webinar.
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Webcast: Navigating Common Copyright Issues for Non-Profits
Imagine that you have volunteers who prepare the latest, greatest materials for your organization’s new program. Photos were taken, brochures are hot off the press, and training manuals are ready for distribution. You may ask yourself – how can I use these great materials for other future programs? Within this question lies a common, but dangerous misconception – an assumption that your organization owns the materials, and that they can be used in any manner that the organization desires.
Join us for an informative webinar discussing a broad overview of how to navigate Copyright Laws to protect the important work of your organization, specifically focused upon copyright ownership and the use of releases and assignments to protect the broad array of materials created by those within and outside of your organization.
During this webinar, we will discuss:
• Who owns materials created for your organization under U.S. Copyright Laws.
• What are the benefits of Copyright ownership for your organization.
• How can your organization use releases and assignments to ensure protection of copyrightable materials.
• What are the best practices for the use of copyright-protected materials owned by others.
Presenters: Devin Gordon and Kevin Glidewell, Turner
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Trademarks
You put a lot of creativity into your Organization’s logo, but have you protected it? Learn about Trademarks, and how to keep your image your own.
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What Nonprofits Should Know About Intellectual Property
Have your organization invented a product or process? Are your name or original materials protected? Find out about patents, trademarks and copyright from the experts.
Please note that in addition to the legal disclaimer above, this article contains information that is based, in whole or in part, on the laws of the District of Columbia. As a result, the information may not be appropriate for organizations operating outside the District of Columbia.
IP for Nonprofits
[pdf-embedder url="https://pbpatl.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/IPforNonprofitsDCBar1.pdf" title="Article: Intellectual Property for Nonprofits"]
Webcast: Truths & Myths about Trademarks & Copyrights
Nonprofits invest a lot of sweat equity into building their "brand" and developing their training or educational materials. As a result, many nonprofits want to protect their name and materials.
During this one hour webinar, our speaker helps nonprofits understand:
- What are federal and state trademarks and when they are useful
- Issues associated with the use of name
- What are copyrights and whether an application is necessary
- The costs associated with trademarks and copyrights.