I've been doing some research about trademarking and copyrighting online. You seed I have a hobby creating some cartoons and I have plans to make these available online. I am quite concerned though about copyright protection.
The amount of information on the net about copyright and trademarks is admittedly enormous but just sorting through it and filtering what makes sense and what is just pure rubbish is a task that makes my head ache.
A good friend, who's also an artist herself recommended consulting a Trademark Lawyer instead. Most of their services involves trademark searching, preparation of applications, and preparation of contracts.
Of course getting a trademark as well as a copyright requires some payment however the benefits on getting one far outweighs the cost. Copyright is a form of intellectual property which gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation; after which time the work is said to enter the public domain. Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and discrete. Some jurisdictions also recognize "moral rights" of the creator of a work, such as the right to be credited for the work. Even us bloggers, should be very conscious about copyrights. I would personally take it negatively if my content or my work was stolen. Credit should be given properly. If writing blog articles are hard, well I'd rather search through reprintable article directories than "steal"another's content.
If I go ahead and publish my graphic design and illustration work, I'm seriously considering the copyright issues that go with it that's why I wonder though how much would those services cost? At any rate, legal fees are just fine as long as you are able to secure the copyrights of your work.
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