Episode 51
E51: Copyrights or Trademarks: Understanding Your Corporate Client’s Perspective
In this episode, recorded as a LinkedIn Live, Erin explores the importance of copyrights and trademarks. Each plays a distinct role in an expertise-based business, but they are valued equally by your corporate clients. This episode helps you understand your IP from the perspective of your corporate clients so you can prioritize your resources to maximize value.
Topics covered include:
- The key differences between copyrights and trademarks
- The purpose that copyrights and trademarks play in your business
- Which types of IP provide the most value to your corporate clients
- Three key steps to make sure you are protecting your most valuable assets
Join us next time on the Hourly to Exit podcast for more insights into transforming your expertise-based business.
Connect with Erin to learn how to use intellectual property to increase your income and impact. hourlytoexit.com/podcast.
Erin's LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinaustin/
Think Beyond IP YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVztXnDYnZ83oIb-EGX9IGA/videos
Music credit: Yes She Can by Tiny Music
A Team Dklutr production
Transcript
Hello, ladies.
Speaker:Welcome to the Hourly
Speaker:to Exit podcast.
Speaker:Today is LinkedIn Live Day.
Speaker:I do LinkedIn lives every
Speaker:last Wednesday of the month
Speaker:at 12 noon Eastern, where
Speaker:I answer your questions
Speaker:about transforming your
Speaker:expertise based business.
Speaker:From unscalable, hourly,
Speaker:one to one that is
Speaker:scalable and hopefully
Speaker:you can sell someday.
Speaker:since today is a LinkedIn
Speaker:live, I do have some slides,
Speaker:but this topic is one
Speaker:that you can live without
Speaker:the slides if, you, are
Speaker:listening on the podcast.
Speaker:But you can check
Speaker:out the slides on the
Speaker:YouTube channel as well.
Speaker:So today we are talking
Speaker:about something that came
Speaker:up during, I was a guest,
Speaker:expert in a mastermind.
Speaker:And of course I was
Speaker:talking about contracts
Speaker:and copyrights.
Speaker:And of course someone
Speaker:said, yeah, but what
Speaker:about trademarks?
Speaker:So, that has inspired
Speaker:this conversation today.
Speaker:it is entitled your
Speaker:Copyrights or Your Trademarks,
Speaker:which one do your clients
Speaker:actually care about?
Speaker:And uh, if you know me at all,
Speaker:you probably know the answer,
Speaker:but I'm gonna tell you why.
Speaker:So let's talk
Speaker:about copyrights.
Speaker:Just really briefly,
Speaker:just make sure we're
Speaker:all on the same page.
Speaker:copyrights are intellectual
Speaker:property protection that
Speaker:protects the original creative
Speaker:works of authorship that are
Speaker:an expression of an idea.
Speaker:And what's important here?
Speaker:Well, all the words here
Speaker:are important actually.
Speaker:Original, creative, and
Speaker:expression of an idea.
Speaker:So it has to be original.
Speaker:It can't be something that
Speaker:you took from somebody else.
Speaker:You don't get copy up
Speaker:protection for that.
Speaker:It has to be creative.
Speaker:So the example is the list of.
Speaker:Phone numbers as if the
Speaker:old phone book example,
Speaker:which probably no one
Speaker:knows what a phone book is.
Speaker:And, then the
Speaker:expression of an idea.
Speaker:The ideas themselves
Speaker:are not protected, by
Speaker:intellectual property law.
Speaker:You have to put it into
Speaker:some tangible form.
Speaker:The expression of the idea is
Speaker:considered a tangible form.
Speaker:The examples here are books,
Speaker:presentations, research
Speaker:reports, market analysis,
Speaker:training materials, SOPs.
Speaker:And so once you create
Speaker:something with your idea.
Speaker:So you put pen to paper
Speaker:figures to keyboard,
Speaker:brush to canvas.
Speaker:once you create something
Speaker:that's original, then It
Speaker:is eligible for copyright
Speaker:protection, and the beauty
Speaker:of copyrights is that it
Speaker:provides a legal monopoly
Speaker:over your original creation.
Speaker:So the monopoly that
Speaker:you have is only you.
Speaker:Have the exclusive right
Speaker:to make copies of the
Speaker:material, to distribute it,
Speaker:to perform it like in the
Speaker:case of a song or a movie, to
Speaker:create derivatives from it.
Speaker:to use your original
Speaker:painting to make postcards
Speaker:or t-shirts, or to give,
Speaker:rights to third parties.
Speaker:So anyone who wants to use
Speaker:your copyrighted material
Speaker:has to come to you to
Speaker:get a license to use it.
Speaker:so that is copyrights.
Speaker:Now what about trademarks?
Speaker:a trademark is a word,
Speaker:phrase or symbol, or could
Speaker:be a combination of them.
Speaker:Even sounds can be,
Speaker:trademarked, that identify the
Speaker:source of a good or service.
Speaker:And of course the more
Speaker:unique the mark, such
Speaker:as something that's kind
Speaker:of made up like Google.
Speaker:The stronger the
Speaker:protection will be.
Speaker:So examples, Google, company
Speaker:names, logos, like the
Speaker:golden arches of McDonald's,
Speaker:or a branded offering.
Speaker:many of you who are, experts
Speaker:may have, a framework
Speaker:that you've developed
Speaker:that you have a trademark
Speaker:in just the name of the.
Speaker:Framework versus
Speaker:your company name.
Speaker:So it can be anything that,
Speaker:identifies the source of
Speaker:the good or the service.
Speaker:And the purpose of a
Speaker:trademark is to prevent
Speaker:confusion, by consumers.
Speaker:So if I see the Barbie
Speaker:trademark, I know that
Speaker:this is a Mattel company
Speaker:product, or if I see the,
Speaker:big Mac, I know that that
Speaker:is a McDonald's product.
Speaker:So that tells me the
Speaker:origin of that product.
Speaker:And the same would
Speaker:apply to services.
Speaker:Those are called service
Speaker:marks, but it comes all under
Speaker:the heading of trademarks.
Speaker:So, When I am thinking
Speaker:about which one.
Speaker:Does the client
Speaker:really care about?
Speaker:So this is the one slide
Speaker:that you might wanna check
Speaker:out, which is copyrights
Speaker:and trademarks side by side.
Speaker:And so on the left I have,
Speaker:copyrights reminder that
Speaker:copyrights give you a legal
Speaker:monopoly in your original
Speaker:creation versus a trademark,
Speaker:which is intended to prevent
Speaker:confusion of the consumer.
Speaker:So no confusion in
Speaker:the marketplace.
Speaker:what do your
Speaker:clients care about?
Speaker:Your clients care about the
Speaker:value that you create for them
Speaker:or that you provide to them.
Speaker:They care about the
Speaker:return on the investment.
Speaker:They care about the results.
Speaker:They care about the
Speaker:transformation that they
Speaker:get from working with you.
Speaker:And so in kind of just.
Speaker:Generalized terms, the
Speaker:copyrights are client focused.
Speaker:Copyrighted materials are
Speaker:the workshops that you
Speaker:deliver, the courses that
Speaker:you create, the, trainings
Speaker:that you deliver, the
Speaker:books that you write.
Speaker:Those are all copyrighted
Speaker:materials, and those are all
Speaker:the ways that you, deliver
Speaker:value to your clients.
Speaker:Versus trademarks, and I
Speaker:generally refer to these as
Speaker:being you focused because
Speaker:they aren't about the value
Speaker:that your client gets.
Speaker:They're about protecting
Speaker:you and your materials
Speaker:from a third party
Speaker:claiming to be you.
Speaker:So let's say that you have
Speaker:developed your workshops and
Speaker:everyone loves your workshops.
Speaker:They create this
Speaker:amazing transformation.
Speaker:your name is all
Speaker:over the place.
Speaker:Is this the person you
Speaker:need to talk to to get
Speaker:this type of, let's just
Speaker:call 'em HR workshops.
Speaker:And then once you have
Speaker:developed these amazing
Speaker:transformations for your
Speaker:clients, then the trademark
Speaker:becomes important to make sure
Speaker:that some other consultant
Speaker:doesn't pretend to be you.
Speaker:And, say that I can deliver
Speaker:that transformation to by
Speaker:using a similar name, I
Speaker:we're not even gonna go with
Speaker:someone just stealing your
Speaker:stuff, cuz there's always
Speaker:gonna be someone who's
Speaker:gonna steal your stuff.
Speaker:But for someone who can
Speaker:confuse the market by saying,
Speaker:I have, Aaron's HR protocol
Speaker:and let's just say you can get
Speaker:that trademarked, excuse me.
Speaker:And so someone couldn't come
Speaker:along and have, Ellen's HR
Speaker:protocol, which would be very
Speaker:confusing to the marketplace.
Speaker:They know it's something like
Speaker:that begins with an e they
Speaker:know the number of syllables
Speaker:and all that good stuff,
Speaker:and so they would think that
Speaker:Ellen's HR protocol was.
Speaker:The same as Aaron's
Speaker:HR protocol.
Speaker:So it's not that trademarks
Speaker:aren't important, it's just
Speaker:that they aren't what provides
Speaker:value to your clients.
Speaker:It's the transformation and
Speaker:the results that provide
Speaker:value to your clients,
Speaker:and those come via your
Speaker:copyrighted materials.
Speaker:So since we know that
Speaker:copyrights are the primary
Speaker:value, and I say primary in
Speaker:the context of an expertise
Speaker:based business that serves
Speaker:corporate clients, if you are,
Speaker:franchising your methodology,
Speaker:obviously the trademarks very
Speaker:important, in order to get,
Speaker:everyone knows that solution
Speaker:comes from your materials,
Speaker:out in the marketplace.
Speaker:But when we're talking
Speaker:about providing value to
Speaker:our corporate clients, it
Speaker:is our copyrighted materials
Speaker:that provide that value.
Speaker:And so in order to protect
Speaker:that value, there are three
Speaker:fundamental things that
Speaker:you absolutely must do.
Speaker:One, you need to create
Speaker:original materials.
Speaker:Remember that copyright
Speaker:protects original creative
Speaker:materials only, so if you.
Speaker:Are using third party
Speaker:materials, in order to
Speaker:provide value to your
Speaker:clients, yes, your clients
Speaker:are getting the value.
Speaker:let's say you have licensed,
Speaker:some materials from a
Speaker:training program that
Speaker:you went through, and now
Speaker:you're able to use those
Speaker:materials for your clients.
Speaker:for instance, I mean I was
Speaker:just looking at the one page
Speaker:business plan book I had.
Speaker:One on my shelf for
Speaker:ages and ages and it was
Speaker:interesting conditioned cuz
Speaker:I hadn't cracked it open.
Speaker:And so I was going through it
Speaker:and I could see that in there
Speaker:you can become a certified one
Speaker:page business plan consultant.
Speaker:and they were talking about,
Speaker:all of the testimonials about
Speaker:how these consultants, made
Speaker:X amount of sales once they
Speaker:became a certified consultant
Speaker:and started using the one page
Speaker:program with their clients.
Speaker:And that's great.
Speaker:They absolutely have provided,
Speaker:value to their clients.
Speaker:They are not creating
Speaker:their own assets.
Speaker:They are not creating
Speaker:their own copyright old
Speaker:material that they can use
Speaker:to control the distribution
Speaker:of the derivatives of, and
Speaker:license to other people.
Speaker:So they're limited
Speaker:to their use.
Speaker:They don't have all the
Speaker:other, upsides that come
Speaker:from owning your own
Speaker:copyrighted materials.
Speaker:So create your own
Speaker:original materials.
Speaker:Secondly, you need to
Speaker:register those that
Speaker:are revenue generating.
Speaker:If you're anything like
Speaker:me, you're constantly
Speaker:creating, materials.
Speaker:You're writing
Speaker:posts all the time.
Speaker:You're recording
Speaker:podcast, you're doing
Speaker:stuff on LinkedIn.
Speaker:being a guest expert inside
Speaker:of someone's mastermind.
Speaker:You're creating deliverables
Speaker:for your clients.
Speaker:you're having.
Speaker:Someone on Fiverr
Speaker:create, logo for you.
Speaker:All the ways that copyrighted
Speaker:materials are in and about
Speaker:our businesses, but we don't
Speaker:register all of those in
Speaker:the US Copyright Office.
Speaker:It's not rocket science to
Speaker:do it, but there is really no
Speaker:reason to register something
Speaker:that you wouldn't enforce.
Speaker:In a court of law, frankly,
Speaker:I mean, this is my opinion,
Speaker:some people might choose
Speaker:to, register absolutely
Speaker:everything, and it could
Speaker:depend on, how valuable you
Speaker:consider your non-revenue
Speaker:generating materials.
Speaker:Like, for instance, let's
Speaker:say you have a book that
Speaker:you're literally giving away.
Speaker:Say it's a white paper, you're
Speaker:literally giving it away.
Speaker:And so it is not directly
Speaker:generating revenue, but it is
Speaker:a very important lead magnet.
Speaker:It's part of your authority.
Speaker:that is that even though
Speaker:you're not selling it, that
Speaker:you would consider registering
Speaker:it with a copyright office.
Speaker:So the second one is
Speaker:register your revenue
Speaker:generating materials in
Speaker:the US Copyright office.
Speaker:And last but definitely not
Speaker:least, you wanna make sure you
Speaker:are using and understanding
Speaker:written agreements.
Speaker:These are gonna be the
Speaker:agreements that you
Speaker:enter with your clients.
Speaker:And if you don't have your
Speaker:own template, one, you
Speaker:should, but in any case, when
Speaker:you have corporate clients,
Speaker:Oftentimes they will require
Speaker:you to sign their agreements.
Speaker:You need to make sure you
Speaker:understand them because
Speaker:those agreements will
Speaker:determine who owns what
Speaker:rights in the deliverables.
Speaker:So make sure those
Speaker:are understood.
Speaker:And then also when you
Speaker:are the client, when you
Speaker:are using subcontractors,
Speaker:maybe you're having someone
Speaker:create materials for your
Speaker:business, or maybe you're
Speaker:having someone come in and
Speaker:help you service your client.
Speaker:in those circumstances, you
Speaker:should also be using and
Speaker:understanding the agreements.
Speaker:it's very important
Speaker:again, to determine the
Speaker:ownership and use of the
Speaker:copyrighted materials that
Speaker:are developed in connection
Speaker:with those engagements
Speaker:and protect you, from.
Speaker:reuse of your materials,
Speaker:and that applies both to
Speaker:your client agreements and
Speaker:your subcontract agreements.
Speaker:Especially if, say you
Speaker:are using facilitators to
Speaker:deliver your workshops, you
Speaker:wanna make sure that you
Speaker:have protections in them
Speaker:so that your copyrighted
Speaker:materials are not being.
Speaker:Use without you, that
Speaker:derivatives aren't
Speaker:being created without
Speaker:your permission.
Speaker:so those are all important
Speaker:elements of your agreements
Speaker:that involve copyrights.
Speaker:So copyright protection
Speaker:is more than copyright
Speaker:registration.
Speaker:You also need to make
Speaker:sure that you have the
Speaker:right agreements in place
Speaker:to make sure that you
Speaker:control those materials.
Speaker:in some.
Speaker:First is the value.
Speaker:The value comes from
Speaker:your copyright materials.
Speaker:Make sure you're putting
Speaker:your resources to creating
Speaker:value for your clients in
Speaker:the form of your copyright
Speaker:materials, your trainings,
Speaker:your courses, your workshops,
Speaker:the deliverables, then.
Speaker:The branding, which
Speaker:is the trademarks.
Speaker:Not that it's unimportant,
Speaker:but we need to make sure
Speaker:that we're putting the
Speaker:right resources in the
Speaker:right place, emphasizing the
Speaker:value that we're creating
Speaker:for our clients, and then
Speaker:also, creating our brand.
Speaker:And that would be in
Speaker:the form of trademarks.
Speaker:hopefully this was,
Speaker:helpful to you.
Speaker:If you have any questions,
Speaker:you know where to find me.
Speaker:You can either find
Speaker:me@thinkbeyondip.com.
Speaker:You can find me at LinkedIn.
Speaker:I am the original
Speaker:Aaron Austin.
Speaker:Or of course, always
Speaker:on YouTube as well.
Speaker:So look forward to
Speaker:hearing from you.
Speaker:I'm always happy to
Speaker:answer your questions.
Speaker:Most of these LinkedIn lives
Speaker:are from your questions, so
Speaker:please feel free to reach
Speaker:out until I see you again.
