Lawyer for Creative People and Tech Businesses - Trademark, Copyright, Contracts, More

Susan Basko is a lawyer working with creative people and tech businesses to help them make their dreams come true.  She helps those working in music, film, video, writing, art, design, clothing design, jewelry, stage plays, musical stage plays, festivals and events, drones, independent journalism, bakery, and those starting online and offline businesses, websites, apps, SaaS, PaaS, social media, and much more.

This work includes Trademarks, Copyright, Contracts, Terms of Service and Use; Name/ image/ likeness advising, Events and permits, and more.

Susan is a licensed lawyer on the State Bars of California and Illinois and an Attorney and Counselor and Member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court.  

Susan has a Juris Doctorate magna cum laude from Simmons Law School at Southern Illinois University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Video from Columbia College Chicago.  She also studied in the Master of Arts program in Mass Communication Media Arts Management at Southern Illinois University, including work in digital media, investigative journalism, and historic research.

Susan has a special interest in Free Speech and the Right to Peacefully Assemble, which in the U.S. is encapsulated in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Susan was invited to participate in a gathering of over 70 nations in the OSCE-ODIHR, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights at the Hofburg in Vienna, Austria, which put forth legislative goals to the member nations to secure freedom of assembly rights under law. 

in 2017, Susan was sworn in as an Attorney and Counselor of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court by Justice Roberts in front of the full Supreme Court.  A reception afterwards in the Supreme Court building was attended by the now late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who encouraged Susan and the other newly-admitted members to use their law licenses to do good.  Susan takes this mandate very seriously.  In practicing law, she works to help others make the most of their gifts and talents to make the world a better place.  

Contact via email at: SusanBasko@gmail.com

OR use the CONTACT FORM below or on the side.

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Photo Credits:

Hollywood sign, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California: Photo by Gabe on Unsplash

Chicago, Cloud Gate Sculpture, aka The Bean, in Millennium Park: Photo by Christopher Alvarenga on Unsplash

Trademark Law

 

Trademarks are words or images, or sometimes colors or sounds or designs that are used to show the source of goods or services in commerce.  Trademarks can be registered with the U.S. Trademark Office.  

Susan loves to register trademarks, which is also called trademark prosecution.  The process of registering a trademark takes a full year or more.  The process begins with choosing a good trademark that is likely to succeed at registration.  A good, strong trademark is a valuable asset for your company.  

The trademark must be used to help sell goods or services.  The goods and services are divided into Classes.  Each class has hundreds or thousands of accepted Listings.  The Listings specifically name what is being offered.  

Trademark registration is very complicated!  It is not a do-it-yourself activity.  There are many rules.  Among many other rules, a trademark cannot be "merely descriptive" of the goods or services, nor can it be misdescriptive.   A trademark cannot be accurately geographic or misleadingly inaccurate geographically.  It cannot be the title of a single work as a goods.  It cannot be "primarily a surname."  It cannot conflict with an existing trademark and it cannot confuse the potential buyers.  And on and on.  The strongest trademarks are said to be those that are fanciful created words.

Susan loves working on trademarks.  She handles each one with great care.

Registering a trademark is a significant expenditure of money and time.  The filing fees and other fees can add up.  Susan knows how to keep fees as low as possible by planning the registration process to keep it as efficient as possible.  The lawyer's fees are also significant, but in keeping with the specialized knowledge that is required to successfully prosecute a trademark.

Every business today needs three basic things --- a website, email, and at least one registered trademark. 

Contact:  SusanBasko@gmail.com

or use Contact form below or on sidebar.

top of page: Photo by Bob Osias on Unsplash

Copyright Law

 Copyright protects creative works that are set in tangible form.  Copyright law comes from the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 8.

Copyright is the right to copy.  The owner of the copyright is the one that has the right to copy, as well as many other rights, such as the right of attribution.  That means you have the right to be given name credit on the works you have created.

Copyright protects works such as writing, art, design, photos, movies, screenplays and stage plays, songwriting and sound recordings, computer software, and other creative works.  These works must be "set in tangible form," meaning, they must be written or recorded or set on paper, etc.  

Today, we register copyrights with the Electronic Copyright Office, ECo.  

Copyright registration is an excellent "bang for the buck."  Copyright registration has a filing fee of about $60.  Some types of groups of works can go in on one application.  Copyright protection generally lasts for the lifetime of the creator plus 70 years. That way, the person who created the work can benefit from it for their lifetime, and after they are gone, their children and grandchildren can also benefit from it.

There are some things that do not have copyright, such as letters and numbers and standard type characters, and fonts.  Arrangements of these might have copyright.  Also, works created by Artificial intelligence do not generally have copyright.  

It takes several months to get a completed copyright registration.  There are advantages to registering a copyright, including the availability of statutory damages and attorney fees.

Intertwined with Copyright law are other laws, such as the Visual Artists Rights Act, known as VARA, which protects certain kinds of visual arts.  Artist Moral rights are part of VARA.  These give a certain amount of sanctity to the art works by providing protections for the creations.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides some protections for digital creative works online.  In many instances, the DMCA has been twisted to make it easier to use and abuse copyrighted works online.

Section 1202 of the DMCA of 1998 protects Copyright Management Information (CMI), and makes it illegal to intentionally remove, alter, or distribute works with altered CMI such as the title of the work, name of the author/ creator, name of copyright owner, terms of use, which can be on the surface of the art work of embedded in metadata or watermarks.  This is meant to deter people or companies from removing or changing the CMI in order to engage in Copyright infringment.  This law provides very generous statutory damages per violation.  There can be criminal penalities up to $500,000 and 5 years in prison for a first offense.  

Copyright can be a potent tool.  But to make use of most of the tools, the Copyright must be registered with the US Copyright Office.

Contact:  SusanBasko@gmail.com

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Top of page:    Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash

Contracts for Creative Activities

Contracts are private written agreements between two parties. Susan writes, reads, and negotiates contracts involved in creative works, such as movies, screenplays, art commissions, song rights, writing agreements, and much more.

Some contracts are subject to Guild Agreements, such as standard contracts approved by the Screen Actors Guild, Writers Guild, Directors Guild, etc. 

Licensed Talent Agents in California and Illinois must have their contracts approved by or meeting the requirements of the State Labor bureau.  

Many contracts are rather hidden.  For example, when you sign up to use a service online, you might click something that is considered a contract.  It is so important to know what you are agreeing to before you agree to it.  Often it is considered that if you use a service, you are agreeing to the contract.

A contract for a website, social media, or online service is often called the Terms of Service (TOS) or Terms of Service and Use (TOSU).  Susan writes these.  She works hard to make these easy to understand. She writes them in clear, plain language.  It can be more difficult to write something simply than it would be to load it down with complex wording.

The contract is the written pathway to what will happen in a creative project.

Susan has written Terms of Service.  She has also written contracts that give a writer or producer the Life Story Rights of a person who is interesting.  She has also written Option Contracts that give a producer the right to buy the Film Rights on a story for an agreed-upon amount of time.

All these contracts should be written so they can be clearly understood by the parties.  That's a fine art and not easy to accomplish. 

Contact:  SusanBasko@gmail.com

or use Contact form below or on sidebar.

top of page: Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Terms of Service and Use for your Website or App

Terms of Service and Use (TOSU) are the contracts that explain the rules of how the Owners want their Users to make use of a website, app, social media, online service, Software as Service (SaaS) or Platform or a Service (PaaS).  

The TOSU tells who can use an online service, how they can use it, what they can and cannot do.  The TOSU tells how disputes will be handled.  The TOSU tells how Copyright ownership will be handled for things uploaded by a User and things that are provided by the online service.  

The TOSU tells what data is being collected from the Users, how it is stored, and how it will be used.  

If payments are made by or to the Users, that is explained in the TOSU.

Most TOSU start out simple when an online service is first begun and get more detailed as time goes on.  

A TOSU is best if it is written in plain, clear language so the Users know what they are agreeing to and what is expected of them.  

Sadly, many internet Users like to push the limits to the edge and beyond, and so the TOSU often has to spell out what the limits are.  

A TOSU is best if it has headings and capsule summaries or TL;Dr for those who are in a hurry.  

Most TOSU state how disputes are to be handled, so the Owners of the internet service do not get bogged down in lawsuits.  However, as internet services grow very large, it seems lawsuits become inevitable.  Google, Twitter/X, Amazon, Facebook/Meta have all been involved in gigantic class action lawsuits.  If you are building a new internet service, you want to protect yourself as much as possible with your TOSU.

Contact:  SusanBasko@gmail.com

or use Contact form below or on sidebar.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Music Law

 

Copyright can and should be registered on Songwriting, including music and lyrics, as well as on Sound Recording.  It is a wise idea to register Copyright on every song you write or record.

Trademarks can be registered on an artist's name or stage name, as well as on a band name

Music trademarks can be registered as "services" for such things as performances, music producing, music mixing, and on things such as rentals of audio equipment.   Music streaming is also a service in trademark law.

Music trademarks can be registered as "goods" for such things such as sales of CDs and vinyl, or downloads of mp3s or other digital formats.

Taylor Swift is registering trademarks on her image and voice to help protect her Name/Image/Likeness (NIL) to try to prevent impostors and AI (Artificial Intelligence) use of her NIL to create fakes.

If you are active in creating music, you should protect the name you use when making music, which might be your real name, a stage or performer name, or a band name.

Be very careful with any contracts involving your music.  You should ALWAYS have a music lawyer (not just any lawyer -- but a lawyer who specifically deals in music contract) read and negotiate every contact involving your music.  These contracts will affect you for life and will likely affect your loved ones long after you are gone.  Copyright protects your work for your lifetime plus 70 years.  That is a long time, so be sure to do it right.

Contracts are also on every music service and website that you may use online.  These contracts are usually called the Terms of Service, Terms of Use, or sometimes called the Agreement.  It's a good idea to have a music lawyer read these for you BEFORE you sign them.  

If you register Copyright on your songs before they are published, you can register up to 10 songs as a Group Registration of Unpublished Works, (GRUW) if you are an individual or small business, if all the works are of the same type, and all the works have the same author/creator and copyright claimant.  This can save a lot of money because you pay one registration fee for all 10 songs.  However, it is much easier to find Copyright records in the database if each song is registered separately, if you can afford that.

"Published" means a song has been available for sale or licensing.  If a song is simply on the internet so your friends and potential fans can listen to it, this is not published, and you can still use the GRUW registration.

Contact:  SusanBasko@gmail.com

or use Contact form below or on sidebar.


Photo by Caught In Joy on Unsplash

Film and Video Law

 

Film law is about contracts of all sorts, copyright, and trademark.  

Susan has written and negotiated contracts for Life Story Rights.  That's when someone wants to make a movie about someone's life.  

She has also written Options contracts.  In film, an Option is a contract between a screenwriter and a Producer.  The Producer pays the screenwriter some money to reserve, for a set amount of time, the right to purchase their screenplay for a set amount of money.  For example, an Option might say the Producer is paying the Screenwriter $5,000 to reserve the right, for one year, to purchase the screenplay for $100,000.  At any time within that one year, the Producer can pay the screenwriter $100,000 and have the exclusive right to make a movie from the screenplay.

There are laws and rules about how a film can be financed and who can finance it.  In many cases, film financing is an SEC matter and financers must be considered qualified.  That means they must have a certain amount of fluid assets and knowledge of film financing and production.  This is because financing a film is a very risky business where people are very likely to see no return on their investment and may even lose money. 

Film contracts include contracts that are required by Guilds, such as the Screen Actors Guild, Writers Guild, or Directors Guild.  These contracts have been deemed fair by these Guilds.  The contracts have provisions for films that are made at various budgets, from ultra low budget on up to a full Hollywood high budget.  

Contact:  SusanBasko@gmail.com

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Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

Art and Design Law

 

Art and design are protected by Copyright.  Art and designs that are created by humans and that are creative and original can be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.

If Copyrights are registered before they are infringed or shortly after they are created, the works then have the possibility of statutory damages and attorney fees in the case of a lawsuit.  

Today, the internet is a hotbed for Copyright Infringement of art and designs.  It is imperative to register the Copyrights on your works.

Contracts are also involved in Art and Design.  If an artist or designer created a Work For Hire, there must be a Work for Hire contract signed before the work is created.  In a Work for Hire, the artist or designer is voluntarily giving up their Copyright on the work.  An artist or designer also does not have Copyright on their work if it is created in the regular course of employment.

The best way to protect your art of designs is by registering the Copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office.  This is done online at the eCO - Electronic Copyright Office.

Contact:  SusanBasko@gmail.com

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Tech Start-ups

Tech Start-ups should protect the name for their service or business by registering a Trademark on the name.  It is best to have a Trademark Lawyer research the name before you even begin.  That way, you will know whether you are going to be able to get a trademark on the name.  Then, you need to be prepared to have the lawyer file a trademark application right away before anyone else files for that name.  A trademark application can be filed on an "1B Intent to Use" basis.  That means you are reserving the name for when you get your tech business up and running.  If your website or online business is already up and running, your trademark(s) can be applied for on a "1A Already in Use" basis, which is faster and less expensive.

Failure to research and file a trademark on your proposed name can mean you never do get the name, or it can mean that a different business that is using the name will send you a Cease and Desist letter or even file a lawsuit against your company for using the name.

Tech start-ups also need a Terms of Service and Use, right from the start.  This is a contract on the website or app or platform that tells who can use it, how it can and cannot be used, how disputes will be resolved, how any payments will be made to or by the business, how Copyrights will be handled, and many other factors.  Such businesses also must give a Privacy Notice for the U.S. and for the European Union under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Tech Start-ups may also be able to register Copyright on the images and writing used on their websites.  The Start-up must have a license and give credit to the creators of any writings or words provided by others.  

Copyright can also be registered on the Computer Code.  Source Code and Object Code are treated as Literary Works by the U.S. Copyright Office.

Contact:  SusanBasko@gmail.com

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Photo by Joshua Reddekopp on Unsplash

Clothing Design and Sales

 

Clothing design does not have copyright because clothing is considered untilitarian and functional, rather than artistic. We may disagree with this assessment, but nevertheless the law is that Clothing design does not have copyright protection.  Therefore, clothing designers are free to imitate existing designs from the current day or from history.  Clothing designers are free to see expensive clothes on the fashion runways or red carpets and then create knock-off versions that will be sold at Target (for example).

Art works printed onto clothing, such as graphic t-shirts, do have copyright protection.  

Fabric designs also have copyright protection.  

Trademarks on clothing also have protection.  There are many registered trademarks that are used on different brands of clothing, on handbags, etc.  It is illegal to create counterfeit clothing or handbags that have imitation trademarks that try to fool people into buying these fakes.

A clothing line can also have a registered trademark.  Most high-end design houses have numerous trademarks to protect their clothing brands.

Contracts are also used in the clothing design business.  For example, a designer might sign an exclusive contract to create designs for a certain company.  Or a designer might sign a licensing contract to allow her or his name to be used by a certain clothing company for a set amount of time.  The actual clothing items may or may not be designed by that designer, but their name is being lent to the designs and should be up to their approval or standards.  

Photo by Charlota Blunarova on Unsplash

Writers

 

Copyright protects the creative works of writers -- for everything from blogs to poems to novels to screenplays.  Literary works can and should be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.  There used to be a myth that writings could be protected by mailing them to yourself.  This is silly and not true.  It is easy and relatively inexpensive to register Copyright at the U.S. Copyright Office using the online Electonic Copyright Office (ECo).

A writer, publisher, or editor can register a trademark on their name or the name or logo of their company.  This can be very tricky, though, since the US Trademark Office requires these services to be provided "for others."  For example, if a publisher is publishing mainly books they have authored themselves, they cannot register a service trademark as a publisher, but they may be able to register a goods trademark on the books.  There are many rules, so you should have a Trademark lawyer advise you and prosecute your trademarks. Trademark is complex and is not a do-it-yourself activity.

Contracts are frequently used in the Writing world -- whenever the writer's work is used in a magazine or published as a book or optioned by a producer to be made into a movie.  Always have a lawyer work on these contracts. 

Contact:  SusanBasko@gmail.com

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Photo by Charlota Blunarova on Unsplash

Theatre and Musical Stage Plays

 

Contracts and licensing are the legal backbone for the creation and production of theater and musical stage plays.  

Contracts form agreements between writers and producers and song writing.  

Copyright registration protects stage plays and musical stage plays as Works of the Performing Arts (PA).  These are dramatic works meant to be performed before an audience.  The registration includes the book, the musical libretto, and the stage directions.

Songs that are part of a musical dramatic work, such as a musical stage play or opera, are exempt from the compulsory licensing law that requires songwriters or copyright owners to allow the song to be licensed for cover recordings.  Therefore, if you want to make a cover version of a song from a musical, you must ask permission and negotiate the terms and price directly with the owner of the copyright on the song.  That's why it is rare and special for a popular song from a musical to be released as a single by an different artist.  It has happened, of course, such as when the Cowsills released their version of "Hair."  From "Phantom of the Opera," Josh Groban and Kelly Clarkson released their version of "All I Ask of You."  This means that their lawyers negotiated a contract to give them permission to record and release this song and agreed on terms of payment.

Contact:  SusanBasko@gmail.com

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top: Photo by Sean Lee on Unsplash

Festivals, Venues, and Events

 

 

Contracts are the backbone of any well-organized music festival.  There are contracts for the venue or outdoor space, contracts for the staging and equipment, contracts for all the music artists, contracts for the porta-potties, contracts for security, contracts for water trucks, contracts for concessions, contracts for ticketing, contracts and permitting with the local governments, contracts with insurance companies, contracts for medical workers. Even the simplest of festivals can involve hundreds of contracts and each contract must be negotiated, written, and read.  

Festivals are detail-heavy.  If the people running a festival think it is going to happen by magic, they will be creating a disaster for those who buy tickets.  Read about the 2017 Fyre Festival if you want to know how badly a festival can be screwed up.

Trademarks come into play with festivals.  At the very least, the name of your festival should have a registered trademark.  That's so someone else cannot come along and steal the name of your festival from you and try to piggyback off your hard work and crowd appeal. 

Contact:  SusanBasko@gmail.com

or use Contact form below or on sidebar.

 

Photo by Yvette de Wit on Unsplash