register a copyRIGHT

DO NOT RISK registering a copyright without a licensed attorney who can make sure that your intellectual property rights are properly protected

Are you a writer, filmmaker, musician, web designer, programmer, architectect, photographer, painter, sculptor or other artist?

You dedicate your heart and soul and thousands of hours of time to bringing your creative vision to life. Why not spend the additional few minutes necessary to properly secure legal rights in your works?

Pablo Picasso: A Cautionary Tale

In 1963, the Public Building Commission of Chicago asked Pablo Picasso to design a sculpture for the Chicago Civic Center. Picasso agreed and, in 1965, presented the Commission with his maquette. Unfortunately, he made a critical error when he delivered the work—he failed to comply with certain procedures required at the time to obtain a copyright. Several years later, Picasso’s oversight proved costly. When the sculpture became the subject of an infringement suit, a federal court deemed the copyright to the sculpture invalid and held that Picasso’s work belonged to the public domain. Anyone could therefore reproduce the sculpture without payment or permission. Picasso had unwittingly waived his intellectual property rights in the sculpture. Clearly, his legal acumen did not match his artistic talents.

Even the greatest artist of the twentieth century needed effective counsel to safeguard his creative efforts. Without it, Picasso found himself without protection for his legal rights. Whether you are an artist, musician, writer, architect, director, or programmer, as a producer of copyrightable works, you should not risk placing yourself in a similarly vulnerable position.

J. Crocker