How artists can protect their intellectual property

As your work becomes better known, it can be a source of concern for you. Many artists have found their intellectual property and copyrighted work being used without their permission in the past, often for a profit. This can be very upsetting, so it’s very important to protect your property as much as possible. Here are a few ideas about how you can do this, taking a weight off your shoulders.

Don’t share early ideas

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard came from a photographer who was well-known for a few art projects. He advised never to show your work or ideas for a project until it was almost ready for publication, and then only to people you trusted or wanted to get on board with funding. Why did he take this attitude? Because when a project is still in the fledging stages, it would be easy for someone else to take your idea and produce it themselves. They might even be able to produce it faster, meaning that they would get the credit and exposure for the idea while you are left with nothing. It’s much better to keep your cards close to your chest than have to take someone to court for intellectual property theft.

Always have a contract

If someone asks you to do any kind of work for or with them, make sure that you draw up a contract first. This can be a very simple document, but it should state that you are to be paid a certain amount for your contribution if it is used. The reason for this is that it’s very easy for someone to drop you from a project and then go ahead and use your work without credit or pay if you don’t have a formal agreement. Take the recent case of Jeffree Star (http://www.refinery29.uk/2016/07/117347/jeffree-star-kat-von-d-fight) , who was called out for not paying the designer who actually came up with the initial idea for his logo. Because it was an informal session between friends, he had refused to pay for a long period of time, causing plenty of stress on both sides.

Protect your work online

If you are working from your own website or on the cloud, make sure that your work is protected as much as possible. You can use right-click protection on your website, and place copyright notices on all pages. You can also watermark any images that you use. Browsing through a VPN ( https://securethoughts.com/vpn-review/ )could help to keep your intellectual property safe even while you are working on it, too. You should also be sure to check terms and conditions: for example, most social media websites have a clause that states they can use any material posted to their site for free.

Be well-informed

Make sure that you are aware of copyright and intellectual property laws ( http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/ ) and how they apply to you. The terms can be different depending on the kind of art that you make as well as where in the world you live. Also be aware of your rights. This will help you to prevent conflicts as well as dealing with them if they do arise. You can’t be intimidated if you know the full extent of the law.

If you cannot protect your intellectual property, you should certainly fight for it after the fact. It may seem gruelling to go to court or face off against corporate lawyers, but you need to stand up for your work. It’s not just you, but also artists around the world, who benefit every time one of these cases is won by the originator of the content.