World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day. It is celebrated every year on April 23rd – a day dedicated to promoting the benefits of – reading, writing, translating, publishing & protecting copyrights. Established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1995 it aims to promote reading, publishing, and copyright protection worldwide.
The theme of World Book Day 2023 – “Indigenous Languages”. This theme highlights the rich cultural heritage of indigenous languages and its importance in both literature and storytelling. It puts the spotlight on the need to preserve and promote indigenous languages, which are often endangered or at risk of being lost in translation, as they hold unique perspectives, along with significant knowledge & wisdom.
In fact, every entrepreneur should know how to protect and grow their business by leveraging copyright.
> Copyrights protect the expression of ideas
Copyrights are a form of intellectual property, and they protect things like books, music, photographs, and software. Owners have the exclusive right to reproduce their work, distribute it, display or perform it, and create derivative works.
It’s important to note that copyrights protect your particular expression of an idea; but
they don’t protect the concept or idea itself.
> Copyrights are beneficial to entrepreneurs
Copyright protection extends beyond creative works – into business documents presentations, marketing materials and even computer code. Meaning that many items created during the course of any business can potentially be copyright-protected. Once you own the rights to your work, others cannot use it – unless they have a license from you; plus you can charge others to license and use your work – making it a valuable asset in your business.
In business, if you pay people to create content for you, you want to make sure you own the content! So, it’s important that your vendors & employees sign agreements transferring copyrights to any work they create – on your behalf.
Note: Copyrights can only be transferred in writing, so it’s imperative to execute written agreements before work is created.
> Registering your copyright – provides additional protection
There are many benefits to registering your work. Registration enables you to file an infringement suit against anyone, who misuses your work, and you’ll be eligible for statutory damages, as well as other costs associated with the infringement.
There may be a fee involved, but once you register your work, your original authorship is presumed. Plus, you can also monitor and protect yourself against infringement.
Thus,
it’s very important for small businesses and startups to fall in line too. Properly assessing your own assets for copyright purposes, while navigating the market without infringing upon another business’ copyright protection is absolutely imperative. Because misunderstanding and mismanagement of copyrights can actually crush small businesses.
Avtar Madan
Himanshu
Shree Lahiri
Poonam Sinha
